REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Basketball team returned to the court Wednesday night for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown beating Whittier College 74-42 inside Currier Gym, while extending their winning streak to four games.
Redlands is now 5-1, 2-0 SCIAC, while Whittier drops to 2-6, 0-4 SCIAC.
The Bulldogs were led by a career-high 23 points from first-year Colbi Zorich (Kenmore, WA) who was 9-of-16 from the field, playing 36 minutes with six rebounds. She was accompanied by fellow first-year Aliyah Anderson (Oceanside, CA) who added 14 points, which included a pair of triples along with two boards and three assists. These were the lone Bulldogs in double figures as twelve U of R players saw action on the night.
It was a tight opening six minutes with the Bulldogs finding themselves leading by two, 6-4, until Anderson made four free throws during their 8-0 run, which put UR on top 12-4.
Whittier was able to battle back deadlocking the game at twelve following their own run of eight straight. But the streak ended when Zorich converted on a layup off an Anderson assist with three seconds left as the Bulldogs retook the lead at the end of the first quarter.
The first points of the second period came from Alyssa Downs (South San Francisco, CA), who ended a 3:02 scoreless stretch by the Maroon and Grey, by making a three to force a Whittier timeout. Following a Poet layup, Chyanne Pagkalinawan (Valencia, CA) sparked an 18-6 run on a Hannah Jerrier (Canton, MA) assisted jump shot with 6:12 on the clock. During this stretch Zorich had ten of the points, which included two and one plays and Anderson knocked down a triple helping Redlands take a 35-26 lead into the break.
Pagkalinawan, Downs, Anderson, and Jerrier all scored in the opening 2:56 of the third quarter as the Bulldogs took their largest lead of the game at 16 points, 42-26. Redlands was able to maintain this double-digit advantage throughout the period, holding a 15-point margin after 30 minutes, 51-36.
Jerrier started the scoring off in the fourth quarter and with it the Bulldogs took their first 20-point lead of the game, 58-37. The U of R shot a blistering 60% from the field in the period along with a 75% clip from the free-throw line and that led Head Coach Rich Murphy to showcase his depth.
With the 2:31 left in the game, first year Jenna Schmitt (Bellevue, WA) earned her first collegiate minutes and what an impact she made knocking down a pair of three-pointers to help the Bulldogs complete the victory.
Jerrier played a strong supporting role on both ends missing out on a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds. She also added three assists, three steals and a block. Downs and Pagkalinawan combined for 16 points, eight boards, seven assists and three steals.
Redlands controlled every statistical category shooting 43.1% from the field, 29.4% from three-point territory, and 79.2% from the free-throw line. They outrebounded the Poets 38-21, added 23 points off turnovers, 18 second-chance points, 22 points in the paint and shared the ball with 19 assists.
The Bulldogs have a quick turnaround as they travel to Tacoma, WA for two non-conference games this weekend at the PNW Tournament hosted by Pacific Lutheran University. Beginning Friday, December 16 UR will take on No. 20 University of Puget Sound at 6:00pm and will then return the next day, Saturday, December 17 to go up against the host Pacific Lutheran beginning at 2:00pm.
