The University of Redlands women's basketball headed to Occidental College on Wednesday night for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) matchup. Big first and third quarters and a season-high 27 made free-throws propelled the Bulldogs to a solid, 70-56 road win.

The Maroon and Gray opened the first quarter strong, scoring on three of their first four possessions. Sophomore guard Alyssa Downs (South San Francisco, CA) started the spurt with a jumper just 12 seconds into the action. After back-to-back trips to each end line, junior forward Kellis Dack (Vancouver, WA) threw in a jumper followed by a sophomore forward Hannah Jerrier (Canton, MA) layup to make it 8-2 at the 8:13-minute mark.

At 1:36, sophomore guard Kim Friedman (Agoura, CA) entered the game and made an immediate impact with a layup and a steal that turned into points off a sophomore guard Alexis Machain (San Diego, CA) jumper. After another made free-throw, the Bulldogs held a 17-9 lead heading into the second period.

Despite the Tigers clawing back in the second, Redlands maintained a 30-25 lead to enter the break.

After an energizing halftime talk from Head Coach Rich Murphy, the Bulldogs found their rhythm on a 10-5 run to open the third.

Starting at 8:20, sophomore guard Chyanne Pagkalinawan (Torrance, CA) and senior guard Cassandra Lacey (Victorville, CA) combined for the next eight Bulldog points in under 20 seconds, so by 8:02 Redlands held a 40-30 advantage. Jerrier also supplied a block in the action-packed spurt.

Five minutes later, Downs lit up the scoreboard with a triple which was followed by a pair of buckets from Dack and Lacey.

Sophomore guard Alyssa Lee (Monterey Park, CA) and Downs made four free-throws down the stretch of the third for a 51-37 Bulldog lead.

Despite the Tigers starting the fourth on a 10-4 run through the first five minutes of action, Downs and Lacey knocked down four straight points from the charity stripe to extend their lead back to 10 at 59-49.

At 2:42, Lacey completed the three-point play on a successful jumper and free-throw to extend the advantage to 62-49.

Once again, Downs and Lacey plus first-year guard Angelina Roque (San Diego, CA) teamed up for eight points at the free-throw line to take the game 70-56.

The team won the game from the charity stripe, sinking a season-best 27 free throws with Downs owning 11 of them.

Lacey led the team with 18 points followed by Downs with 16.

The Bulldogs (15-5, 10-1 SCIAC) welcome Pomona-Pitzer Colleges to Currier Gym on Saturday, February 8, for a 7 p.m. against the Sagehens.