Despite relinquishing a 17-point lead, the University of Redlands women's basketball team held off a persistent Occidental College squad and nabbed an important Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) victory earlier tonight in Currier Gym. With the 65-58 win, the Bulldogs move into a tie for first place with the Tigers. Redlands opened the game with a 20-3 lead and seemed to be in control of this always competitive match-up. But Oxy answered back with a 23-13 run that pulled the Tigers within seven at the break. A well-rounded scoring effort put Oxy back in contention with senior guard Laura Mohler (Seattle, WA) scoring nine of her game-high 30 points during this stretch. The second half saw the Tigers cut the lead to one at 38-39 when Mohler scored eight points in a two-minute span, ending at 14:37. Freshman forward Brittany Oster (Agoura Hills, CA) rattled off six of her 16 points to lead the Bulldogs on a 16-6 run to garner an 11-point advantage with less than six minutes to go. However, Oxy's Mohler continued to sink her shots and helped the Tigers chip away at the deficit. She nailed a three-pointer with 38 seconds left on the clock to close the gap to three at 55-58. Forced to foul, Oxy hoped Redlands would miss, but the Bulldogs made all but one of their final eight free-throws through the waning seconds, resulting in the seven-point victory. Redlands shot 40.9% from the field but struggled from downtown with a 1-for-7 showing. Occidental's offense recorded a 31.6% performance but converted six three-pointers. Junior guard Mariah Barbetti-Cort (Ventura, CA) led the Bulldogs with 23 points, including an 11-for-17 display from the charity stripe. She also nabbed nine rebounds and dished out three assists. Oster chipped in 16 points and 11 rebounds, while junior forward Courtney Carroll (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) returned to action after a four-game lay-off with 11 points and five assists. She now sits just two points shy of joining the 1,000-point club in her third season with the Bulldogs. In addition to Mohler's 30-point explosion, Occidental (11-8, 6-2 SCIAC) gained eight from sophomore guard Stephanie Scamman (Northridge, CA) and seven from senior forward Stephanie Babij (Ontario, OR). Redlands (12-7, 6-2 SCIAC) looks forward to hosting a conference doubleheader with the men on Saturday against Caltech. The women tip off at 5 p.m., with the men following at approximately 7 p.m.