CLAREMONT, Calif. – The University of Redlands women's basketball team (11-10, 7-6) took advantage of a 20-point first half lead as they beat Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) 61-55 on the road Wednesday evening.
It was a fantastic first quarter as the Bulldogs scored the first six points, then 18 of the first 20 before finishing the quarter up 20-6. All five starters played the entire first 10 minutes with Colbi Zorich scoring eight points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting while Aliyah Anderson and AJ Wick each had four points and Kayden Sanders and Carly Hicks chipped in two apiece. Redlands shot 69.2 percent from the field as a team.
The second quarter started just like the first as Anderson made a jumper to extend the lead to 16. Anderson would make a pair of free throws a few minutes later before Leaya Mckinney scored in the paint to make it 30-10 game with 5:39 on the clock.
Over the final five plus minutes only Mckinney and Jenna Schmitt scored as the Athenas went on an 11-5 run, but the Bulldogs maintained a healthy 14-point advantage, 35-21, at the half.
Sanders opened the second half with a three off a Hicks assist. Schmitt then ended a five-minute scoring drought as she was assisted by Wick on a jumper in the paint to make it 40-25 with 4:16 to play.
CMS, though, would come back and make it a one possession game, 40-37, with 2:09 still to play as the Bulldogs were outscored 12-2. Schmitt would continue her strong play off the bench as she again made a jumper and Wick finished the quarter with a free throw as it was an eight-point lead after 30 minutes.
CMS got within two points twice in the fourth quarter before tying the game at 51 with 3:42 remaining in the game. Over the final 3:09 the Bulldogs scored 10 of the final 14 points with nine of those points coming from Zorich as the Bulldogs got an important road win to stay in the hunt for the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament.
Zorich finished one off her career-high of 24 points last Saturday as she finished with 23 points (6-11 FG, 11-12 FT). Anderson missed a double-double by one rebound as she had 11 points and nine rebounds. Wick finished with a career-high of 17 rebounds which are tied for the 13th most in a single game in program history.
The Bulldogs return to Currier Gym this Saturday as they host the University of La Verne at 7:00 p.m.