The University of Redlands women's basketball team blew it open in the second half to run away with a 55-41 victory against the Beavers of Caltech in Pasadena during Thursday night's Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) game. After leading by three points at the break, the Bulldogs shut down the Caltech offense and held the Beavers to a mere 12.9% display from the field, leading to the 14-point advantage at the final buzzer.
Sophomore guard Ashley Sevilla (San Diego, CA) hit the Bulldogs' first bucket of the game after more than five minutes of action. She finished with a game-high 21 points, which came off of seven shots from beyond the arc and nearly tripled her season scoring average of 7.3.
Down 13-20 with 7:04 left in the first half, Redlands responded with a 16-6 run to capture the lead and never looked back. During this span, freshman guard Jesse Luersen (Bend, OR) and Sevilla knocked down six points apiece.
Quite the opposite of the Bulldogs' cold shooting performance at the start of the game, Redlands came out on fire in the second half, racking up 11 points while holding Caltech to just a single free throw through the first 9:33 of action.
Although the Beavers fought back to within five points, Redlands remained in control en route to the 55-41 victory.
Making her first collegiate start, Luersen provided 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Freshman center Victoria Fakalata (East Palo Alto, CA) and freshman forward Madison Sanders-Curry (San Jose, CA) stepped up with 11 rebounds each to go along with eight and five points, respectively.
Caltech (0-13, 0-2 SCIAC) gained 11 points, nine boards and four blocks from junior post player Krissy Dahl (Eagleville, PA). Junior forward Theresa Juarez (El Paso, TX) chipped in eight points and also nabbed a team-high 11 rebounds, including six on the offensive end.
Redlands (8-5, 2-0 SCIAC) heads to Occidental College on Saturday for a SCIAC doubleheader with the Bulldog men's team, beginning at 5 p.m. in Eagle Rock. Fans may follow the action via live web streaming at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/oxy.portal#.