REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Basketball team picked up the season sweep over Claremont-M-S in dramatic fashion Wednesday night coming from behind to beat the Athenas 58-54, clinching the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament.
The Bulldogs improve to 17-6, 12-3 SCIAC. The night was highlighted by Alyssa Downs (South San Francisco, CA) who became the programs All-Time Scoring leader after pouring in 18 points, eight of which came across the final ten minutes. Joining Downs in double figures was Chyanne Pagkalinawan (Valencia, CA) who had 17 points on 8-of-16 shooting along with three rebounds, two assists and three steals. First-year Colbi Zorich (Kenmore, WA) added 13 points on 3-of-9 shooting to go with 12 rebounds. For Pagkalinawan, that is a season-high for points in a conference game.
The Bulldogs got off to a slow start offensively, scoring only two points in the opening five minutes as they trailed 7-2. Redlands would come back to tie the game at nine at the 2:35 mark thanks to a 7-2 run that included a layup for Pagkalinawan as she reached four points, and Downs who officially broke a tie with Leslie Ferguson for the all-time scoring record with a jumper off a Pagkalinawan assist with 3:18 remaining in the first.
Redlands and CMS would get deadlocked soon after on two different occasions before the Athenas scored on a basket in the paint as they took the 15-13 lead after one quarter.
The Athenas scored the first four points of the second period as the U of R did not find the bottom of the net until Zorich made a free throw at the 6:31 mark. Zorich then converted on a layup off a Downs assist to get the Bulldogs back within a possession, 19-16.
With only 1:40 left in the half Downs tied the game at 23 with a pair of free throws following an Athena technical foul. The two free throws gave her five-straight points during the 10-4 Bulldog run. CMS though, would take the 25-23 lead into the break after a last second basket.
Around the five-minute mark of the third the Bulldogs trailed by their largest deficit, eight, 33-25. But Redlands found a way to rally scoring six quick points thanks to Zorich, Starla Murillo (Fremont, CA), and Pagkalinawan.
After getting within two on multiple occasions, they found themselves down eight, 45-37, with 7:21 to go in the game. With less than four minutes on the clock, Downs made back-to-back threes to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game, 49-48, with 2:43 left.
CMS got within one three times over the final minute, but Redlands made five-of-six free throws down the stretch, which included Hannah Jerrier (Canton, MA) knocking down two late that helped UR pull out the four-point win and the right to host a SCIAC Semifinal next week against this same Athena team inside Currier Gym.
Redlands shot 35.7% from the field, 40% from three-point territory, and 58.3% from the free-throw line. They were outrebounded 42-35, but added 20 points in the paint, 13 points off turnovers and 12 second chance points.
The Bulldogs finish off the regular season with senior night against first place University of La Verne this Saturday, February 18 with tipoff set for 5:00 p.m.