REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Basketball team overcame a first-half deficit to beat Caltech 77-61 Wednesday night, outscoring the Beavers by 22 points in the second half.
Redlands gets back into form with the win improving to 15-5, 10-2 SCIAC and with a Claremont-M-S loss have now moved into 2nd Place within the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings by themselves.
Hannah Jerrier (Canton, MA) added another three blocks to her career total and now sits alone in first place within the University of Redlands record books with 50 single-season blocks. On the night the Bulldogs received 70 of their 77 points from their starters who all scored in double figures with the 77 points coming from six players in total.
Alyssa Downs (South San Francisco, CA) led the Maroon and Grey in scoring with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting along with six rebounds, five assists and a steal. Jerrier tallied 15 points on 7-of-16 shooting to go with six rebounds, four assists, and three blocks. The two first-years Aliyah Anderson (Oceanside, CA) and Colbi Zorich (Kenmore, WA) combined for 25 points with Anderson going 6-of-9 from the field with seven boards and Zorich posting a 4-of-7 night with seven rebounds and four assists. Chyanne Pagkalinawan (Valencia, CA) was the last Bulldog in double figures with ten on 4-of-7 shooting with three rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Anderson got off to a hot start for the U of R with five straight points, which included an and one. After that it was back and forth as the game saw three ties. At the 3:31 mark Downs provided two free-throws that made it a six-point lead, 16-10. But over the final 2:14 Caltech would go on to score 11 of the final 12 points to go in front 23-19, swinging the momentum.
Jerrier opened the scoring in the second quarter with a jumper off a Downs assist, but the Beavers would extend their lead to eight, 31-23, at the 5:23 mark. Redlands was able to pull within four, 33-29, with 2:30 left, but they would trail by six, 39-33, after a buzzer-beating layup from Caltech that ended the half.
The Bulldogs took their first lead since the final minute of the first quarter on a Jerrier jumper three and a half minutes into the third quarter, which made it ten unanswered for the Maroon and Grey.
Leading by only one, 52-51, with :53 seconds left in the period, the Bulldogs took advantage of a few Beaver fouls converting seven free throws, while closing on a 7-0 run, pushing the largest margin of the game to eight, 59-51.
Julia Balestreri (Pleasanton, CA) scored in the opening seconds of the fourth, as she had five of the previous seven points for the Bulldogs, pushing their lead to double-digits for the first time.
Caltech made a few runs to get within a couple of possessions, including getting their deficit down to five, 64-59, with 5:31 remaining. But Redlands would respond with a 13-2 run that put the game out of reach picking up a bounce-back win following a tough road loss at Cal Lutheran over the weekend.
On the night the Bulldogs shot 50% from the field, 28.6% from three-point territory and 68% from the free-throw line. They outrebounded Caltech 40-20, added 21 assists, 15 points off turnovers, 26 points in the paint, and 11 second chance points.
Redlands will stay at home for a home doubleheader with the men's team this Saturday, February 4 with their tipoff set for 5:00 p.m. against Pomona-Pitzer.
