The University of Redlands women's basketball team headed to Chapman University to take on the Panthers in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) battle on Wednesday night. Fueled by a high-scoring second half, the Bulldogs took Chapman by a final score of 75-68.
Despite Chapman building a five-point, 11-6 lead through the first eight minutes of action, the Maroon and Gray came right back on a 6-0 run to close out the period one point ahead. Sophomore forward Hannah Jerrier (Canton, MA) owned four of the points with a jumper and a layup. First-year guard Marisa Urbano-Sedlund (San Diego, CA) stepped into the game with 59 seconds left and made an immediate impact with a jumper just three seconds later to enter the second with a 12-11 advantage.
At the 6:30-minute mark in the second, first-year guard Angelina Roque (San Diego, CA) snagged an offensive board that she dished out to sophomore guard Alyssa Downs (South San Francisco, CA) for the score to make it 16-15.
The teams continued to trade scores through the second until Jerrier made a highlight-reel play with a block and subsequent layup. Sophomore guard Chyanne Pagkalinawan (Torrance, CA) repeated Jerrier's efforts with a block of her own on Chapmans' next possession. Despite the Bulldogs solid defense, they headed into halftime in a slight, 22-24 hole.
The first four minutes of the third quarter was all Bulldogs. Jerrier opened the period with a layup that senior guard Cassandra Lacey's (Victorville, CA) grabbed the offensive board and then assisted. Pagkalinawan then snagged a steal, before junior guard Kellis Dack (Vancouver, WA) grabbed another offensive rebound for a Jerrier layup.
Pagkalinawan and Downs then hit back-to-back three-pointers to give Redlands a 32-26 lead, forcing Chapman to take a timeout.
Although Chapman continued to stay in the game, two more treys from Urbano-Sedlund and Downs kept Redlands ahead for a 41-37 lead after three.
The Panthers opened the fourth on a 7-0 run, this time forcing the Bulldogs to call a timeout with 6:56 left in the game.
Downs subsequently stepped back for another bucket from beyond the arc just five seconds out of the timeout. Lacey then put on an impressive showing on both ends of the court with a steal that she took coast to coast, scoring a layup and getting fouled on the play. She made her following free-throw to complete the three-point play to go up 47-44.
Just 45 seconds later sophomore guard Alyssa Lee (Monterey Park, CA) sunk two straight three-pointers assisted by Lacey and then Downs for a 53-49 score at the 5:10-minute mark.
The fouling game started early in the fourth as Redlands subsequently won the game from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs made 20 free-throws in the final five minutes of the contest with Downs owning seven of them while Roque added four and Jerrier three.
Although Chapman ended the game on a layup and a pair of free-throws, Redlands had built a big enough lead to take the game 75-68.
The Maroon and Gray made a season-high 28 free-throws and scored an impressive 34 points in the fourth quarter alone. Downs led the team with 19 points and three assists followed by Jerrier with 16 points and seven rebounds. Lacey added nine points, six rebounds, and five assists.
The Bulldogs (16-6, 11-2 SCIAC) head to Caltech on Saturday, February 15 for a 7 p.m. game against the Beavers. The team returns home on Wednesday, February 19, for senior night against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.