THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (11/26/10) – Rookie Emily Cristaldi scored 11 of her 16 points in the second half, as the Kean University women's basketball team erased an 11-point deficit in the second half to defeat University of Redlands at the California Lutheran Thanksgiving Classic on Friday afternoon.

Kean (3-0) erased the 59-48 deficit over the final 10 minutes of the game, as Cristaldi netted nine of her points in the that time and gave the Cougars the lead for good at 63-61 on a jumper with 5:37 left.

For Redland (2-2), Courtney Carroll finished with a game-high 20 points and seven rebounds.

The Bulldogs took an early lead, before Kean took its first lead of the game at 19-18 on a three-pointer by sophomore Naimah Clemons with 8:45 remaining in the first half.  Clemons followed with a lay-up to extend the lead to 21-18, before the final eight minutes would feature four ties and seven lead changes and the Bulldogs would take a four point lead at 38-34 at the break. 

In the second half, Redlands would gradually build its lead, extending it to as many as 11 points at 59-48 on a lay-up by Carroll with 10:14 remaining in the game.

The Cougars would answer with a 13-0 run, taking a 61-59 lead on a lay-up by sophomore Simone Smith.  Cristaldi scored seven points in the run and would give the Cougars the lead for good at 63-61 with five and a half minutes left.

Cristaldi hit 7-of-10 shots from the floor and added four assists, while Clemons also finished with 16 points.  Junior guard Noel Mathis scored 11 points, while senior Angelica Bermudez grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

For Redlands, Brittany Oster had 12 points and nine rebounds, while Christina Rios added 10 points.

The Cougars face host California Lutheran University on Saturday afternoon.  Tip-off is 4 p.m. (PST).