With junior forward Brittany Oster (Agoura Hills, CA) supplying a 20-point, 11-rebound effort, the University of Redlands women's basketball team fired off a 61-53 victory over the first-place Regals of Cal Lutheran University on Thursday in Currier Gym.  The Bulldogs lit up the scoreboard in the first half, converting 57.1% of their shots, en route to a sizeable lead that lasted through the final whistle.

After missing its first two attempts of the game, the Maroon and Gray knocked down 10 of its next 12 shots from the field, resulting in a 26-14 lead with 10:39 remaining in the first period.  With five different players scoring during this stretch, Oster led the charge with eight of her 16 first-half points for the Bulldogs.

Cal Lutheran responded with a 5-0 run to pull within seven, with Erica Whitley taking advantage of an and-one play.

However, Redlands answered right back by stepping up its defense and restarting its offensive rhythm.  The Bulldogs finished out the half by out-scoring the Regals, 16-7, for a solid 42-25 lead at the break.  Oster scored another eight points, leading to her 8-for-9 performance during the first frame.

In addition to shooting 57.1%, the Maroon and Gray came up with three treys, while Cal Lutheran went 0-for-7 from beyond the arc.

Nonetheless, the Regals opened the second stanza with a pair of three-pointers and appeared to be knocking on the door of a comeback.  Alex Nelson and Keely Anderson came up with the respective long balls for Cal Lutheran.

While continuing to put on the pressure with improved shooting, compared to their first-half effort of 29%, the Regals rallied back to within 10 points with 13:02 to go. 

Moments later, a free-throw by CLU's Jazmyne Porter made it a nine-point game at 37-46.

But junior guard Marika Staton (El Centro, CA) shifted the momentum back in the hands of the Bulldogs when she drained a three-pointer at the 12:14-mark, providing a crucial boost of energy to her team.

From here, Redlands took care of the ball and continued to pull in important rebounds while keeping Cal Lutheran at bay for the exciting win.

Overall, the Maroon and Gray knocked down 41.4% of its shots and the Regals converted only 31.6% of theirs.

In addition to Oster's season-high of 20 points, which came off of 11-for-15 shooting, Staton added 14 points, including three of the team's four baskets from downtown.  

Oster led the rebounding effort with 11 boards, while junior forward Madison Sanders-Curry (San Jose, CA) nabbed some important rebounds as well, totaling seven on the night to go along with her eight points.  In addition, sophomore guard Claire Stach (Portland, OR) pulled in six total, five of which were on the offensive end.

Furthermore, junior guard Colleen Goeser (San Carlos, CA) dished out eight of the Bulldogs' 20 assists.

Cal Lutheran (15-3, 8-2 SCIAC), which drops into second place in the conference, gained 10 points off the bench from Porter, while Starla Wright grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. 

Redlands (12-5, 5-3 SCIAC) heads to Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Saturday for a 5 p.m. tip-off against the Sagehens.