While riding the momentum of an undefeated showing on the East Coast last week, the University of Redlands women's basketball team captured its seventh win in a row with tonight's 83-65 showing over Beloit College (WI) during the 2013 Redlands Winter Classic. The Bulldogs dominated the Buccaneers in the second half by converting 63.3% of their shots en route to the team's third-highest point total of the season.
After multiple ties and lead-changes in the opening period, the Bulldogs took a slight 33-32 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
During the second stanza, Redlands built a double-digit lead for the first time in the contest at the 15:41-mark. Senior forward Brittany Oster (Agoura Hills, CA) stepped up her game by scoring seven of the team's 12 opening points of the half.
Although Beloit responded by cutting the deficit to four at 46-50 with an and-one play by Laura Panicali, the Bulldogs quickly made it a 13-point game just moments later when junior guard Caitlyn Ciardella (South San Francisco, CA) capped off the team's 9-0 run with her second bucket from beyond the arc with less than 10 minutes to go. During this span, sophomore forward Ashton Beth (Windsor, CA), senior forward Madison Sanders-Curry (San Jose, CA), and senior guard Colleen Goeser (Walnut Creek, CA) scored points for the Maroon and Gray.
Down the stretch, the Bulldogs found an open Ciardella on two more occasions to complete her 12-point showing on the night. Redlands also improved its defensive pressure, holding the Buccaneers to only three baskets in the final six minutes.
As a team, the Bulldogs dished out a season-best 24 assists, with Goeser leading the effort with nine. Junior guard Kaity Lykins (Simi Valley, CA) also provided six to go along with eight rebounds and eight points.
After a relatively slow start, Oster found her rhythm to score a game-high 27 points, including 17 in the second stanza. She shot 60% on the night and pulled in eight rebounds for the Maroon and Gray.
Beloit's (2-6) Lana Wieseman provided 18 points and nine rebounds to lead the team in both categories.
The U of R (9-2) takes on Ripon College (WI) in Saturday's 7 p.m. showdown of the Redlands Winter Classic, while Beloit battles its out with Chapman University at 5 p.m.
In the tournament's opening game, Chapman outlasted Ripon in a late-game thriller, 71-69. Despite leading by as many as 18 points and by double digits for much of the second half, Chapman barely held off a resilient Red Hawks team that almost completed the incredible comeback.
With nine seconds remaining in the second half, Ripon had rallied to cut the deficit to just one. The Red Hawks had possession but turned the ball over on an in-bounds play, forcing them to immediately foul. After the Panthers converted the first free-throw opportunity, the second free throw missed its mark and Ripon had a final last-chance effort to win the game. After moving the ball up the right side of the court as the seconds ticked down, the Red Hawks fired a potential game-winning shot from downtown. Despite hitting the backboard and going halfway down the hoop, the ball eventually spun out of the cylinder, giving the Panthers the two-point victory.
Kimi Takaoka and Sandra Gao led the way for the Panthers by racking up 57 points between the two players. Takaoka's game-high 31 points came off of a 10-for-22 shooting effort, while Gao was incredibly efficient on the evening, tallying 26 points on a 10-for-13 shooting performance from the field. Gao also registered a game-high eight rebounds and three steals.
Ripon's Jill VanEperen notched a big night for the Red Hawks, bringing the team back from its large deficit after a slow start to the game. VanEperen registered a team-high 22 points to go along with six boards, while Kacie Cullen provided 18 points and seven rebounds.
For the game, Chapman (6-3) shot 53.1% from the field, while Ripon (3-6) converted only 39.7% of its attempts. However, the Red Hawks held the edge in rebounds with a 35-27 margin.