REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Basketball team has qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships and heads to San Antonio, TX, to play in a pod with Hardin-Simmons University, Trinity University, and the University of Texas-Dallas.  

The Bulldogs, who boast a 19-7, 12-4 SCIAC record, will open with Hardin-Simmons, who come in ranked No. 12 (d3hoops.com)/No. 14 (WBCA) in Division III with a 23-3, 18-0 ASC record. 

Head Coach Rich Murphy is leading the Bulldogs into the NCAA Division III National Championships for the second time in the past three seasons (not including the COVID affected 2020-21 season) and the third overall in program history. In 2019-20, Redlands won their first-round game, which was their first NCAA tournament win in program history, upsetting then No. 8 and pod host Wisconsin-Whitewater 70-62. Redlands currently sits at 19 wins, Murphy's eighth time reaching that mark in 15 seasons. He holds all 19-win seasons in program history, which dates back to 1975-76.

The Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA Championships by winning the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament which gave them an automatic qualifying bid. Their two wins included a 79-75 home comeback win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Box Score | Recap) and a 70-69 road upset over the No. 1 seed University of La Verne (Box Score | Recap).

Redlands

Redlands is led by All-SCIAC performers Alyssa Downs (1^st Team), Hannah Jerrier (1^st Team & SCIAC Defensive Athlete of the Year) and Chyanne Pagkalinawan (2^nd Team).  Downs, who is also the All-Time leading scorer in program history with 1,650 Points, is one of the top shooters in the country, ranking No. 10 in free-throw percentage and No. 8 in three-point percentage.  In the U of R single-season record books, she ranks eighth with 409 points, seventh in made threes with 63, and third in free-throw percentage at 88.8 percent. 

Jerrier is tied for the 21^st-best block average in the country and also has 14 double-doubles on the season, which is the 23^rd most, and posts the 17th-best rebounding average.  She has 98 offensive rebounds this season, the fourth most in single-season program history. She also ranks second in defensive rebounds in a season with 212, second in total rebounds with 310, and owns a new program record 62 blocks, 15 more than the previous record held by Mackenzie Smith (2010-11).

Pagkalinawan, who was the SCIAC Tournament MVP, ranked third in the conference and was one of only six players averaging three-plus assists and rebounds a game.  She also has an assist/turnover ratio of 1.90, which was second-best in SCIAC.

Hardin Simmons 

The Cowgirls are making their second straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament and ninth in school history.  They received one of the 19 At-Large bids.  They have five All-ASC performers on their team including Parris Parmer, Paris Kiser, Natasha Blizzard, Samantha Tatum, and She-Ray Wilson.  They also had the ASC Coach of the Year in Kendra Whitehead. 

Parmer was named to the all-conference team for the second straight season. She averaged 10.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. She was also named to the all-defensive team.  Kiser was also named to the All-ASC first team for the second straight year after earning the honor at UTD last season. She leads the Cowgirls with 11.8 points per game.  Blizzard led the league with nine double-doubles and averaged 10.8 points and a league-best 9.7 rebounds per game. She was named to the second team.  Tatum averages 10.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. She was also named to the second team.  Wilson was named to the ASC all-defensive team as well.  Whitehead has been selected ASC Coach of the Year three times in her career. 

Schedule

The University of Redlands and Hardin-Simmons University will play Friday at 5:30 p.m. on the campus of Trinity University in San Antonio, TX.

Trinity will play ASC champion UT Dallas in the other first-round game. The two winners will play at 8 p.m. on Saturday for the right to go to the Sweet 16.

Tickets will be $10 for general admission, and $7 for students, seniors, and children.

Series History

The last time the Bulldogs and Cowgirls met was back in November of 2012 when Redlands won 55-49 inside Currier Gym. That is the only previous meeting as of the 2005-06 season.

Team Stats

Redlands

 Hardin-Simmons

Individual Stats Leaders

Redlands

Hardin-Simmons