The University of Redlands women's basketball team led wire to wire against Caltech on Thursday evening, winning by a final score of 78-47. Twelve different players scored for the Bulldogs on a night which saw the team maintain its position in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings, remaining in fourth place.
The Maroon and Gray started the game well, clicking offensively and nabbing a 10-4 lead after junior forward Brittany Oster (Agoura Hills, CA) nailed a jumper at the 15:57 mark.
Caltech kept it close for a while, but with just over three minutes remaining before the halftime intermission, senior guard Allison Wong (Redding, CA) drained a three-pointer to push the advantage to 32-21. The Beavers cut the deficit to six points by the one-minute mark, but back-to-back long-range efforts from Wong and senior guard Ashley Sevilla (San Diego, CA) extended the Bulldog lead to 12 points by the half, at 40-28.
Wanting to put the game out of reach, the U of R came out of the locker room for the second half with energy and stifling defense. The Bulldogs opened the second stanza on a 9-0 run to make it a 21-point lead with 17:37 left in regulation.
Freshman forward Brinsley Farry (Ventura, CA) came off the bench and provided some quality minutes for Redlands, scoring a nice jump shot at the 14:07 mark. Two minutes later, she worked hard in the paint to get off a tough jumper, seeing it go in after being fouled. She converted the and-one opportunity, giving the Bulldogs a 25-point lead. On the night, Farry finished with seven points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Also playing well off the bench, sophomore forward Vianna Amabile(Temecula, CA) converted a layup with just 4:14 left to play, pushing the advantage to 27 points. In addition to scoring six points in the game, she also nabbed five boards and dished out two assists.
From that point on, it was smooth sailing for the Maroon and Gray, as the team closed out the contest by not allowing another Caltech basket.
The solid team defense by Redlands forced Caltech into shooting just 36.0% from the field and 33.3% from downtown on the night. The Bulldogs, however, were efficient offensively, scoring 45.8% of their field-goal attempts, while making 6-of-10 from long range.
Once again staying aggressive, the Bulldogs won the rebound battle, 38-31, and went 18-for-25 from the charity stripe.
Sevilla finished the night with 14 points to lead the team in scoring, while sophomore guard Claire Stach (Portland, OR) provided 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Junior guard Marika Staton (El Centro, CA) registered another solid effort, leading the team in rebounds with six while also scoring eight points.
The U of R (16-6, 9-4 SCIAC) hosts second-place Occidental College on Saturday evening in Currier Gym for Senior Night. On what will also be FAN Appreciation Night, the first 100 fans to the game will receive a free Bulldog Basketball t-shirt. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.