REDLANDS, Calif. – The combination of Hannah Jerrier (Canton, MA) and Julia Balestreri (Pleasanton, CA) inside proved a mismatch for Chapman University as the University of Redlands Women's Basketball team came away with the 75-53 win inside Currier Gym.
It had been three weeks since the Bulldogs played at home and Wednesday night they used their height advantage to come away with their third straight win, improving to 10-4, 5-1 SCIAC. They still currently sit in second place within the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings.
Four players recorded double figures led by Balestreri who put up a double double with a career high 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting along with 10 rebounds and four blocks. Alyssa Downs (South San Francisco, CA) added 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, going a perfect 3-for-3 from deep along with eight rebounds, Chyanne Pagkalinawan (Valencia, CA) chipped in with 12 points, four assists, and two steals and first-year Aliyah Anderson (Oceanside, CA) in her first career start provided an 11-point, three rebound, three assists, a steal and a block effort.
Jerrier despite not hitting a double double was still able to prove a menace inside with seven points, 14 rebounds (11 Defensive) and five assists.
Chapman led by one early, which came at 2-1 in the first minute of the game. But this would be the only advantage they would have as Redlands would go on to outscore the Panthers 21-10 (1st Quarter), 19-15 (2nd Quarter), 16-13 (3rd Quarter), and 19-15 (4th Quarter).
After falling behind 2-1 in the first quarter the Maroon and Grey rattled off ten in a row with Pagkalinawan adding eight of the points coming on a three-pointer, a jumper and an old fashioned three-point play. This set the tone the rest of the way for UR as Downs and Nataly Bravo (Spring Valley, CA) would knock down triples soon after, followed by Balestreri taking over with a layup and jumper to close out the first quarter.
Six of the first eight points in the second quarter went to Redlands as Bravo and Balestreri would help increase the margin to 15, 27-12. Chapman created some pushback with a 7-2 run to get within ten and then added six in a row a few minutes later, all coming from Julia Strand to pull within single digits at 34-25. But over the final 2:23 of the half Redlands would create some separation as Balestreri and Anderson would combine for six of their own giving UR a 40-25 lead at the break.
It was a back and forth third quarter as the Bulldogs held a three-point advantage in the period. Anderson picked up the first two buckets for the U of R and Downs would drain a deep three to move the margin to 18, 47-29. Down the stretch Strand tried to create some momentum for the Panthers with another six points, but again Redlands had a response as first-year Leila Hosn (Seattle, WA) would add two free-throws followed by Downs who would add another five points, pushing the lead to 56-35.
In the fourth Redlands continued their hot shooting going 7-of-12 from the field (58.3%). Balestreri added the first two baskets of the period, Pagkalinawan would tally another four points, first-year Colbi Zorich (Kenmore, WA) converted an and one, Anderson would drain a three, and Hosn would pick up another two free-throws as the Bulldogs would run away with the home victory.
Redlands shot a blistering 56.9% from the field, 66.7% from three-point territory and 57.9% from the free-throw line. They outrebounded Chapman 42-24, had 14 second chance points, 34 points in the paint, and saw 27 points come from the bench.
The Bulldogs return home this Saturday, January 14 for a doubleheader with the men's team going up against California Lutheran University beginning at 5:00pm.