The University of Redlands women's basketball team secured a tie for second place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings on Saturday evening by defeating the Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, 78-65. The victory marked the fourth-consecutive triumph for the Maroon and Gray as the squad heads into to the SCIAC Postseason Tournament.
The Bulldogs opened the game on a 14-4 run, led by senior guard Ashley Sevilla (San Diego, CA) and junior guard Marika Staton (El Centro, CA). Both players helped energize the offense and each nailed a three-point shot during the early offensive burst.
Staton hit her second long-range effort of the night at the 8:56 mark in the first half to extend the Bulldogs' lead to 21-10. By the halftime intermission, Redlands owned a 31-20 advantage while holding CMS to shooting just 25.9% from the field and 0.0% from downtown.
The Athenas came out of the locker room for the second half and immediately nailed a three-pointer, but Sevilla provided the answer for the Maroon and Gray, hitting a three-point jumper of her own.
With 16:29 left to play in regulation, junior guard Colleen Goeser (San Carlos, CA) hit a jumper to extend the U of R lead to 14 points at 37-23. CMS then tried to make a run to get back into striking distance, but when sophomore guard Claire Stach (Portland, OR) hit a jumper and Sevilla sank her third shot from long-distance on back-to-back possessions, the lead was back to a comfortable 14 points.
Junior forward Brittany Oster (Agoura Hills, CA) was dominant on the boards all evening long, and after grabbing a defensive rebound, she sank a jumper on the other end of the floor, putting the Bulldogs up 56-38 with just 6:41 remaining in regulation. For the game, Oster finished with nine points and a career-high 15 rebounds.
The Athenas cut the deficit to 14 points again with just over four minutes remaining, but Redlands senior guard Allison Wong (Redding, CA) came into the game and nailed a shot from downtown, virtually putting the game out of reach.
Solid free-throw shooting down the stretch secured the triumph for the Maroon and Gray, and in particular, Staton experienced a phenomenal night at the charity stripe, going 12-for-14 at the line. She finished with 18 points and five boards to go along with an assist and a steal.
Goeser also tallied 18 points on the evening, providing an efficient 6-for-11 shooting effort in addition to grabbing four boards, dishing out six assists and nabbing three steals. Sevilla and Stach both registered double-digit scoring efforts, notching 11 apiece while junior forward Madison Sanders-Curry(San Jose, CA) was big on the boards, tallying 11 total rebounds on top of blocking three shots.
As a team, the Maroon and Gray shot 50.0% from downtown on the night while holding the Athenas to a 3-for-16 performance from beyond the arc. Redlands also dominated the rebounding battle, 53-35, and dished out 16 assists as compared to just five for CMS.
The Bulldogs (19-6, 12-4 SCIAC) will play as the No. 3 seed in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament and travel to No. 2-seeded Chapman University on Thursday evening. Tipoff in the semifinal contest is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.