REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Basketball team used a big second half Saturday night to pull away from the Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer 66-53 inside Currier Gym.
The Maroon and Grey were tough to beat in the month of January going 7-1 as they improve their record to 13-3, 9-1 SCIAC. They have won eight of their last nine and have proven to be tough to beat at home as they move their mark inside Currier to 9-1. The Sagehens were in second place in the conference standings heading into the match-up, but saw Redlands take the season series.
The Bulldogs had four of five starters in double figures led by Angelina Roque (San Diego, CA) who poured in 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting to go with four rebounds. Chyanne Pagkalinawan (Valencia, CA) added 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting with six assists, while going 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. Alyssa Downs (South San Francisco, CA) provided a 12-point, seven rebound effort on 5-of-7 shooting and Hannah Jerrier (Canton, MA) finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
It was a strong offensive performance for the Maroon and Grey once again shooting 46.3% from the field, 27.3% from three-point territory, and 61.9% from the free-throw line. They hauled in 42 rebounds, added 10 points off turnovers, and chipped in with 36 points in the paint.
The 1st Quarter was back and forth with Pomona-Pitzer finding themselves leading by one at 11-10. They also outscored Redlands in the 2nd Quarter 14-13 giving them a 25-23 lead at the break.
The story of the night though was the second half as UR came out tough in the 3rd Quarter outscoring the Sagehens 18-14 led by Downs who added eight points herself. Trailing 34-31 at the 6:09 mark Downs sparked the comeback with a layup inside that led to an 8-3 run, which included layins from Julia Balestreri (Pleasanton, CA) and Roque. This gave UR a 39-37 lead, which they would hold heading into the 4th.
Balestreri took over at the start of the 4th Quarter proving physical inside for the Sagehens with a pair of layups that produced an 8-2 run for the Maroon and Grey extending their lead to 49-41. After a Madison Quan layup with 4:53 to play Leah Tan (Alhambra, CA) energized the crowd with a corner triple that moved the deficit back to nine. PP was able to chip away at the lead with a couple free throws and a layup and then got within four after a three-pointer from Quan. But that's as close as Pomona-Pitzer would get as Redlands would come up with the stops when they needed to, while stringing together twelve unanswered that included eight free-throws from Roque, Downs, Jerrier, and Pagkalinawan.
Redlands remains at home this Wednesday, February 2 when they host Whittier College beginning at 7:00pm.