Following a nine-day layoff from competition, the University of Redlands women's basketball team showed no hesitation in Friday's game of the Redlands Winter Classic, cruising to an impressive 70-29 victory over the visiting Spartans of Manchester University (IN). The Bulldogs' stifling defense held the opponents to a mere 22% shooting performance en route to the Spartans' season-low of 29 points.
Manchester's sophomore guard Jaimie Childress (Indianapolis, IN) attempted to set an early offensive tone for the Spartans by knocking down the opening three-pointer less than 15 seconds into the game.
However, Redlands remained steady in executing its game plan and eventually broke a five-all tie with a 9-0 run to charge out to a lead that it would never relinquish. Senior guard Ashley Sevilla (San Diego, CA) capped off this spurt with her first three-pointer of the night.
The Bulldogs held a 28-9 advantage with less than five minutes to go in the opening period, as junior guard Marika Staton (El Centro, CA), sophomore guard Claire Stach (Portland, OR), and junior guard Colleen Goeser (San Carlos, CA) joined forces for a 14-point outburst.
By the end of the stanza, the Maroon and Gray sat comfortably out in front by 20 points.
During the second half, Redlands continued to shut down any hopes for a Manchester comeback, as the Spartans shot a dismal 14.3% and the Bulldogs out-scored their opponents, 32-11.
Overall, the Bulldogs utilized 14 players in the game, with all but two of them scoring at least two points in the 41-point triumph. The Redlands bench accounted for 29 points, with Sevilla chipping in 10 and sophomore forwardVianna Amabile (Temecula, CA) adding eight.
Redlands' senior guard Allison Wong (Redding, CA) led all scorers with 14 points, which came off of 5-for-9 shooting. She also pulled in four rebounds and dished out two assists.
Overall, the Maroon and Gray won the rebounding battle with a 47-37 margin. The Bulldogs also nabbed 18 on the offensive end, compared to Manchester's showing of 13.
Junior forward Brittany Oster (Agoura Hills, CA) led Redlands' rebounding efforts with seven boards.
In addition, the Bulldogs turned over the ball a season-low six times, while their counterparts coughed up 23 turnovers on the night.
The Bulldog women (8-3) return to action on Saturday, January 5, when they host Whittier College at 5 p.m. in an important Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) contest.
Manchester (3-7) faces Marian University (IN) in Saturday's 5 p.m. showdown in Currier Gym.
In Friday's first contest, Chapman University dominated Marian University (WI), winning by a final of 76-51 to mark Head Coach Carol Jue's 200thcareer win at the helm of the Panthers. In what was a comfortable victory from start to finish, 13 different players scored for the familiar foes from Orange.
Firing on all cylinders to begin the game, Chapman jumped out to a 21-2 lead after nine minutes of action. The Panthers extended the lead to 30-4 after junior guard Kimi Takaoka (Arcadia, CA) drained two consecutive shots from beyond the arc. From here, Chapman maintained a sizeable lead through the final whistle while capturing the milestone win.
Up 37-15 at the halftime break, Chapman extended its advantage in the first minute of the second stanza, when senior guard Anne Yoshimura (Camarillo, CA) sank a jumper to make it 44-17.
Marian cut the deficit to 17 points when junior guard Sarah Albert (Howards Grove, WI) made a three-point shot midway through the second half. But Chapman answered with some timely buckets of its own, never letting the Sabres get any closer than that en route to the 25-point decision.
Leading the way for the Panthers, Takaoka finished with 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Additionally, sophomore guard Andrea Villanueva (Chino Hills, CA) and forward Sandra Gao (Rowland Heights, CA) each chipped in 12 points.
Coming off the bench for Marian, freshman guard Ally Hopp (Ripon, WI) led the Sabres in scoring with 13 total points by going 13-for-20 from the charity stripe.
For the game, Chapman shot 46.6% from the field and 50.0% from beyond the arc. Marian struggled to find its rhythm, shooting just 30.3% from the field and only 31.3% from downtown.