written by Jalen Kang

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Alline Ballard set a new season high in scoring with 29 points and added 13 rebounds, leading Cal Lutheran women's basketball to its sixth-straight win with a 78-66 victory over Bethesda on Tuesday evening. 

Over her last three games, Ballard is averaging 24.3 points per game and 13.7 rebounds per game. She has been on a tear in the rebounding department all season, grabbing double-digit rebounds in all but three games. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Flames (0-18) wasted no time finding their groove as they scored 17 points on 7-14 field goal shooting in the first quarter. Despite shooting just 29.2% from the field, the Regals (9-3) still controlled the Flames by dominating the boards, thanks in large part to Ballard. Ballard tallied 12 points and eight rebounds, four of them on the offensive glass, by the end of the first quarter. She scored the first and last Regals points of the quarter, converting a tough and-one in the paint with 0:39 left in the frame to make it 18-15. 

After the Flames knocked down a three to open the second quarter, the Regals embarked on a 12-4 run from the 7:55 to 3:04 mark to put them ahead 30-24. The Flames answered with five quick points to bring them back even, but the Regals scored the last six points of the quarter to take a 36-29 lead. Sara Mills scored her sixth points of the game to start the scoring, Aliya DiMuro knocked down a pair of free throws, and Alexa Greenwood hit a pullup jumper with 10 seconds left before the halftime buzzer to give the Regals a comfortable cushion heading into the break. 

The Regals kicked the third quarter off with a 9-0 run fueled by their defense, holding the Flames to 0-6 shooting for the first 4:23 of play. Ballard tallied the first three buckets for the Regals, bringing her total to 22 points for the night. 

The Flames wouldn't go away, as they went 7-10 from the field and hit three three-pointers to outscore the Regals 17-10 to finish off the third quarter, but the Regals never led by less than nine points the rest of the way. 

In the fourth, the Regals stretched their lead to as large as 19 points when DiMuro sunk a layup to make it 74-55. The Regals went 5-6 from the line in the quarter and cruised their way to their sixth-straight victory.

THE NUMBERS
- Ballard: 29 PTS, 13 REB, 3 BLK
- Mills: 11 PTS, 6 AST
- Greenwood: 11 PTS, 6 REB, 2 STL
- DiMuro: 10 PTS, 8 REB, 2 BLK

FROM HEAD COACH KELLI DIMURO
"We picked it up in the fourth quarter. We struggled with our fluidity a little bit on offense, but a win is a win, and we like where we're at heading into the Oxy game on Saturday." 

UP NEXT
The Regals begin conference play on the road against Occidental (6-5, 2-1 SCIAC) who are riding a four-game win streak. Someone's "0" has got to go as the purple and gold clash with the Tigers on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 2 p.m.