The University of Redlands women's basketball team faced off against the Chapman University Panthers in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown in Orange on Saturday afternoon. With neither team shooting particularly well, the home squad took advantage of its opportunities at the free-throw line while converting points off of the Bulldogs' turnovers en route to the 62-49 Panther win.
The first 24 minutes of action saw six ties and 10 lead-changes amidst a back-and-forth contest. The Maroon and Gray garnered its largest lead of the game at 15-7 with 10:42 left in the opening half, with senior forwardVictoria Fakalata (East Palo Alto, CA) scoring nine of her team's points during this stretch.
However, Chapman rallied back to eventually even the count at 25 apiece by the time the teams retreated to the locker rooms at the break.
During the second stanza, the score ping-ponged between the two squads, as the physical and foul-heavy competition continued.
But a cold shooting-effort by the Bulldogs set them up for a tough afternoon, as the Panthers began to pull away.
Four successful free-throws by freshman forward Reyna Ta'amu (Lakewood, CA) kept Redlands in the hunt at the 12-minute-mark, trailing by three at 36-39.
However, Chapman uncorked a 12-1 run that was capped off by a three-pointer just four minutes later, putting the Bulldogs in a 14-point hole.
Freshman guard Brooke Hulett (Poway, CA) knocked down a pair of free-throws and a shot from beyond the arc to bring the Bulldogs back within 10 at the 3:54-mark, but that was as close as it would be.
Fakalata led all players with 16 points and 14 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the campaign. Senior guard Caitlin Ciardella (South San Francisco, CA) chipped in eight points.
Chapman's (7-8, 5-2 SCIAC) Syndey Olivier led her team with 14 points after coming off the bench.
Overall, the Panthers shot 19-for-24 (79.2%) at the charity stripe, while the Bulldogs converted 18 of their 32 chances (56.2%). In addition, Chapman coughed up half as many turnovers as Redlands.
Redlands (7-10, 4-4 SCIAC) returns home to the friendly confines of Currier Gym on Wed., Jan. 28, for a 7:30 p.m. match against the University of La Verne.