PASADENA, Calif. – The University of Redlands women's basketball team won their third straight game Wednesday night beating Caltech on the road 81-71.
The Bulldogs move to 8-2 on the season with a perfect 4-0 mark in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play. They extend their winning streak to three games and currently sit atop the standings as the only undefeated team.
It was a big night for the Maroon and Grey as they welcomed back Hannah Jerrier (Canton, MA), Monique Carrasco (Calexico, CA), and Jordan Smith (Tustin, CA) who were all out against Chapman University Monday night due to COVID-19 Health and Safety protocols.
Redlands received a pair of double-doubles from seniors Jerrier and Alyssa Downs (South San Francisco, Calif.). Jerrier had a team-high 20 points along with a game-high 16 rebounds. Downs added 18 points, a career-high 11 rebounds to go with two assists, two steals, and two blocks. Junior Julia Balestreri (Pleasanton, Calif.) had a big game off the bench with a season-high 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, coupled with six boards. Angelina Roque (San Diego, CA) was the last Bulldog in double figures who tossed in 10 points on 50% shooting from the field along with a game high six assists.
The U of R had a strong offensive first quarter with 24 points, and led by as many as ten, 18-8. During that run both Jerrier and Roque each provided eight points a piece giving Redlands a 24-19 lead.
Caltech started the 2nd Quarter off with ten unanswered that spanned 3:39. But over the next five minutes UR was able to get their offense back going stringing together ten of the next twelve points, capped off with a Kayleigh Watanabe (Santa Clara, Calif.) triple and six points from Balestreri. Watanabe, who made her second straight start then added a pair of free throws with six seconds left in the half that pulled the Bulldogs even at 38-38 heading into the break.
Redlands jumped out in front to start the 3rd Quarter, 44-40, using a 7-3 run that covered 1:46 thanks in large part to Leah Tan (Alhambra, CA) who added a jumper and a three-pointer. The Beavers were able to stay close after that tying the game up soon after and then using six straight to reclaim the lead. Down the stretch in the period, both Balestreri and Jerrier would combine for seven points that gave the Bulldogs a 52-50 lead with 1:50 remaining. Balestreri then added four more points and Downs made a three with three seconds left, which extended the Redlands advantage to six.
In the fourth UR survived a few runs by the Beavers early, but managed to grab a lead as many as 16 midway through as Downs and Jerrier would each put up seven points a piece across the stanza. Then to close the game out UR was able to answer CIT bucket for bucket as they would pull off the crucial road victory.
Redlands finished the game shooting 47.7% from the field, 44.4% from three-point territory, and 64.7% from the free-throw line. They outrebounded the Beavers 47-33, added 20 assists, 15-second chance points, 38 points in the paint, and saw their bench provide an additional 20 points to help in the victory.
The Bulldogs return to Currier Gym with a matchup against Cal Lutheran University this Saturday, January 15 beginning at 4:00pm. A reminder that there are currently no spectators allowed at Redlands home games in the month of January.