ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women's basketball team used a big fourth quarter to pull out a 69-62 win over the visiting Redlands Bulldogs. The Panthers (6-1, 3-1 SCIAC) rebounded from a tough road loss to close out the early SCIAC season with a win.
Junior Marissa Dunn scored 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including a 2-for-3 day beyond the three-point arc. Senior Jaryn Fajardo scored 19 points while grabbing six rebounds and distributing three assists. Freshman Julia Strand recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
The Panthers jumped out to an early lead, forcing Redlands (2-6, 0-4 SCIAC) into seven turnovers in the first quarter to take a 17-6 lead. After a sluggish first, the Bulldogs flipped the script in the second quarter, holding Chapman to just 10 points while scoring 19.
Cassandra Lacey led the Bulldogs charge with 11 of her game-high 23 points in the second quarter. She drained all four shots she took, including a three-pointer. The Panthers shot just 29 percent in the second quarter and followed it up with 35 percent shooting in the third as they fell behind by as many as six points.
Down by two points, Alyssa Lee drained a three-pointer for Redlands just seconds into the quarter to put Redlands in front. At 31-31, Lee again came up with a clutch shot to put Redlands up two. Lee's layup sparked a 5-0 run that put Redlands up by multiple possessions.
The Bulldogs kept the lead through the rest of the third quarter but freshman Julianna Campas knocked down a three-pointer at the buzzer to pull Chapman within two at 47-45.
Down 53-51 after another three-pointer from Lee, Dunn hit a pair of free throws to tie it up and the Panthers never trailed again. Fajardo got to the rim for a layup after a big stop on defense to give Chapman the lead back at 55-53. After trading the next couple of baskets, Fajardo knocked down a long three-pointer with the shot clock expiring to put Chapman up 60-55.
Dunn scored the next five points for the Panthers to put them back up by nine points with 2:51 left and Chapman ran out the clock to the victory.
The Panthers held a 36-21 advantage in rebounding that including a 15-4 advantage on the offensive glass. Junior Lucy Criswell grabbed six boards, including three on the offensive end. Four of Stand's 10 rebounds came on the offensive end.
The Panthers will take on their finals next week and return to action in Hawaii on Dec. 19 against George Fox.