With senior forward Courtney Carroll (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) notching the Bulldogs' second triple-double of the season, the University of Redlands women's basketball team captured a solid 83-68 victory over the visiting Leopards of the University of La Verne on Saturday. With unselfishness and poise, Carroll simply did what her team needed her to do, resulting in 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. She repeats the effort that senior guardMariah Barbetti-Cort (Ventura, CA) achieved on Dec. 10, 2011, against La Sierra University.
In tonight's showdown against La Verne, the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 13-4 lead with Barbetti-Cort and junior guard Ashley Sevilla (San Diego, CA) each draining three-pointers. From here, the Maroon and Gray led wire-to-wire without allowing the Leopards to so much as tie the game.
La Verne made it interesting by eventually making it a three-point game at 20-23 with 7:09 left in the opening period. The Leopards repeated this feat just 34 seconds later.
However, Redlands finished out the half with a 39-30 advantage, scoring 12 points in the final 3:46 of the stanza. During this stretch, freshman guardKaity Lykins (Simi Valley, CA) scored six of her 12 points, while freshman guard Caitlin Ciardella (South San Francisco, CA) knocked in five points for the Maroon and Gray.
The Bulldogs quickly created a double-figure lead in the second frame and subsequently pulled away for their seventh Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) victory of the season.
In addition to Carroll's outstanding performance, Redlands had three other players with 12 or more points. Sevilla contributed 16 points, going 4-for-10 from beyond the arc, while sophomore guard Marika Staton (El Centro, CA) added 13 points with three long balls. Lykins and sophomore forwardBrittany Oster (Agoura Hills, CA) joined Carroll in double-digit rebounding with 10 and 14, respectively.
La Verne's (5-14, 3-5 SCIAC) freshman point guard Riki Murakami (Redondo Beach, CA) supplied a team-high 18 points, with sophomore guard Kelly Kika (Torrance, CA) chipping in 11 points as the only other double-figure scorer.
Overall, the Bulldogs shot 46.7% for the night, while the Leopards converted just 24% of their attempts. Redlands also dominated the boards with 57, compared to La Verne's 44.
Redlands (13-6, 7-1 SCIAC) remains in a tie for first place in the SCIAC standings and heads to Whittier College on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. bout with the Poets.