REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Basketball team opened up the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Post Season Tournament Tuesday night and put together an impressive performance over the No. 8 seed Cal Lutheran University 79-59.
The Bulldogs extend their winning streak to six games as they move to 19-4, 14-2 SCIAC, while going a perfect 3-0 against the Regals on the season.
The Maroon and Grey outscored CLU in every quarter, which included a 21-11 rout across the first ten minutes. The U of R shot 46.3% from the field, 33.3% from three-point territory, and 71.4% from the free-throw line. They outrebounded the Regals 43-28 with 15 of them coming on the offensive end, added 13 points off turnovers, 32 points in the paint and 10 second chance points.
Three Bulldogs recorded double digits with Alyssa Downs (South San Francisco, CA) pouring in a game high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, while going 5-of-8 from downtown. Angelina Roque (San Diego, CA) added a double double with 18 points and 10 rebounds and Chyanne Pagkalinawan (Valencia, CA) chipped in with 15 points, three rebounds and three assists. Despite not hitting double digits, SCIAC Defensive Athlete of the Year Hannah Jerrier (Canton, MA) made her presence felt on the defensive end with 15 rebounds (six offensive | nine defensive), three assists, eight points, and a career high seven blocks.
Cal Lutheran held a two-point lead following their first possession and after that the lead changed five times before UR held onto it for good. Jordan Smith (Tustin, CA) got off to a hot start in the opening period with six points and a pair of rebounds as she led a 42% shooting effort by Redlands. At the 6:42 mark Pagkalinawan started a 6-0 run giving UR an 11-6 lead thanks to a layin and was followed by Roque and Jerrier converting inside. CLU stuck around after that for a few minutes, but then with 2:47 left in the quarter the Bulldogs opened the game up with eight unanswered, which included free-throws from Jerrier and Roque, a layup from Smith and a jumper from Roque that moved the score to 21-11.
Things got worse for the Regals in the 2nd Quarter allowing another 21 points and seeing the deficit grow to 16 at the break. This time Downs went off for 10 points knocking down two threes, while going 4-of-5 from the field. A quick seven points to start the second got the offense going again for UR with Pagkalinawan knocking down a three, and Julia Balestreri (Pleasanton, CA) and Downs answering inside. A 9-3 run after that pushed the lead to twenty as Pagkalinawan and Roque would convert jumpers, followed by a Balestreri layin and a triple from Downs.
It was a tight 3rd Quarter with Redlands outscoring the Regals by one 18-17 and despite a push by Cal Lutheran in the 4th with another 16 points it wouldn't be enough to mount a comeback and stop the high powered Bulldog offense as they would go on for the lopsided victory.
Redlands returns to the court this Thursday, February 24 as they host Whittier College for the SCIAC Tournament Semi-Finals beginning at 7:00pm.