The University of Redlands women's basketball team's historic season came to an end on Saturday night with a tough 49-69 loss to the No. 23 Thunder of Trine University (IN) in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championships in Whitewater, WI.
Much like the night before, the Maroon and Gray faced an early deficit but responded with a 6-0 run off of buckets from sophomore forward Hannah Jerrier (Canton, MA), sophomore guard Alyssa Downs (South San Francisco, CA), and senior guard Cassandra Lacey (Victorville, CA). The scoring spurts continued for one team and then the other, ultimately leading to the Thunder's 21-15 advantage by the end of the first quarter.
Trine maintained its momentum early in the second stanza, but Redlands put together a six-point spurt to make it 21-24 with 6:56 left in the frame. First-year forward Julia Balesteri (Pleasanton, CA), Jerrier, and first-year guard Angelina Roque (San Diego, CA) scored for the Bulldogs during this stretch.
For the second night in a row, junior guard Alyssa Lee (Monterey Park, CA) stepped back for a monster three-pointer, with tonight's effort putting Redlands within two halfway through the second quarter. The Bulldogs continued to push late in the period and entered the locker room amid a dog fight at 30-32.
Unfortunately, Redlands' offense struggled to find its rhythm in the third quarter, as Trine pulled away with big shots and key defensive stops.
With 4:14 left in the third, Downs sank her second shot from beyond the arc for her 82nd of the campaign, which reset her own school record for threes in a single season. She also now ranks third all-time at Redlands with 163 career three-pointers in just two seasons of action.
Despite leaving it all on the court, the Bulldogs could not overcome the deficit. Late in the game, Roque and first-year guard Alexis Machain (San Diego, CA) showed their grit by drawing fouls with strong drives to the basket that resulted in successful free throws.
Overall, Downs led the Maroon and Gray with 12 points, while Jerrier and Dack each scored seven. Dack also pulled in a team-high 10 rebounds.
Redlands completes the 2019-20 season with a 22-7 overall record to equal the program record for wins in a season. In addition, the Bulldogs captured the first NCAA tournament win in Bulldog women's basketball history with last night's upset bid against the No. 8 University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.