THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The University of Redlands women's basketball team (13-12, 9-7) lost 71-59 at California Lutheran University (CLU) Thursday night in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament Semifinal.
The first quarter was a defensive struggle, especially in the first three minutes as the Regals led 3-2 with the two Bulldog points coming from All-SCIAC Second Team selection Aliyah Anderson.
Avery Shiring and AJ Wick then scored back-to-back buckets as the game was tied at four and six. Redlands took the lead when Leaya Mckinney kicked out a pass to Kayden Sanders who hit a three for a 9-6 lead with only 1:49 remaining in the quarter.
The Regals made a three shortly after the Sanders three, but Mckinney scored in the paint and drew the foul which she converted at the line into a three-point play as it was 12-9 Bulldogs after 10 minutes.
The first 10 points of the second quarter went to CLU as the Bulldogs trailed by their largest margin of seven, 19-12, as they were held scoreless for nearly three minutes.
Shiring was able to get the Bulldogs on the board after making one of two free throws with 7:07 on the clock. First Team All-SCIAC selection Colbi Zorich then grabbed an offensive rebound and drew a foul that led to a pair of free throws as the lead was down to four points.
At the 5:58 mark Shiring got back to the strip where she was able to make both as it was only a one possession game, 19-17. The Regals, though, stretch the lead back to seven and were up by that margin until Anderson made a pair of free throws with 3:07 left in the half.
The two Anderson free throws, though, started an 8-0 run that gave Redlands the lead, 27-26, with only 31 seconds left as Mckinney found Anderson for a three. CLU would get two points as time expired, but multiple seven-point deficits were cut to just one at the break.
After conceding the opening score, Anderson, Zorich, and Shiring combined for another 8-0 run that put the Bulldogs up five, their largest lead of the game, 35-30, with 7:21 on the clock in the third.
The lead would get as large as six a couple of minutes later after Zorich converted a traditional three-point play, but the Reglas would again respond as they went on a 17-4 run that restored their first half seven-point lead, 49-42, with less than a minute remaining. Shiring would end the quarter with a pair of free throws as it was a two-possession game after 30 minutes.
All their hard work would be for not as CLU started the first three minutes of the deciding quarter on an 11-2 run as Redlands found themselves down double digits for the first time, 60-46.
The remainder of the game the Bulldogs were never able to get within single digits as they were eliminated from the postseason tournament.
Redlands again had to rely on their starters due to multiple players missing due to injury as 177 of their 200 minutes played came from their starters.
The two All-SCIAC selections combined for 30 points, including a 13-for-13 mark at the line. Zorich and Anderson also combined for eight rebounds and six assists with only one foul.
Shiring in her postseason debut got the start and played 33 minutes with nine points and two rebounds. Mckinney finishes the best season of her career with double figures rebounding games in three of her last four as she finished with 10 rebounds and added five points and three assists.
The 13-12 overall record is the fourth-straight full season (not including COVID-shortened 2020-21) with an above-.500 record and the 13th time in 16 complete seasons under head coach Rich Murphy.