The University of Redlands women's basketball took to the road to face the Cal Lutheran University Regals on Saturday afternoon in Thousand Oaks. The Bulldogs faced an uphill battle that their 63.6% fourth-quarter shooting effort could not overcome, resulting in the 61-73 loss.
CLU quickly ran out to a 13-4 lead, as Redlands fought to find its rhythm amidst turnovers and missed shots. First-year guard Abria Laue (Camarillo, CA) worked to change the momentum by delivering a dime of a pass to senior forward Kellis Dack (Vancouver, WA), who hit a jumper at the 1:59-mark. Shortly thereafter, Laue pulled in a defensive rebound that led to one made free-throw. The Bulldogs' final points of the quarter came off Laue's hands, as Redlands trailed by four through 10 minutes of action.
Early in the second quarter, the Maroon and Gray made it a two-point game at 15-17, with junior guard Chyanne Pagkalinawan (Valencia, CA), sophomore guard Angelina Roque (San Diego, CA), and junior guard Alyssa Downs (South San Francisco, CA) converting points. However, CLU answered with a pair of critical three-pointers to stretch its advantage to 10 points by the two-minute mark. The teams traded baskets to finish out the stanza and headed into the locker room with the Regals in front, 36-25.
Despite Downs' 10-point showing, Redlands missed too many opportunities in the third quarter, which made it difficult to make up the double-digit deficit.
Nonetheless, Redlands refused to go away and battled until the final whistle. With an impressive shooting display, the Bulldogs cut it to five at 51-56 with 6:51 to go. Roque knocked down a jumper before finding junior guard Jordan Smith (Tustin, CA) open on the perimeter for two points. Downs' back-to-back buckets aided the Maroon and Gray's comeback, but CLU managed to pull away for the win.
Downs finished with a game-high 26 points, five rebounds, and one steal, while Roque added a career-high 18 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
The Bulldogs shot 45.7% overall, as compared to the Regals' 45.0% effort. Redlands also pulled in 35 rebounds and held CLU to only 24.
Redlands (1-2) faces Cal Lutheran again on Saturday, April 3, in a 7 p.m. tip-off in Currier Gym.