The University of Redlands women's basketball team came up short in its quest to extend this historic season with a 42-54 loss to No. 15 University of Puget Sound (WA) in tonight's First Round of the 2010 NCAA Division III Championships in Newberg, OR. Despite rallying back from an early double-digit deficit, the Bulldogs never took the lead during the physical and competitive showdown against the Loggers.

Puget Sound scored first and held a 4-0 lead before two free-throws by senior guard Ali Bueno (San Jose, CA) finally put Redlands on the board with 16:33 to go in the first half.

Puget Sound continued to hold a slight advantage for the next few minutes before enjoying a 7-0 run to gain a 21-10 lead by the 7:14 mark.

The Loggers eventually edged the Bulldogs by 12 just over two minutes later but the Maroon and Gray rallied back to make it a six-point game at the break.

Redlands opened the second half with a 5-0 run to pull within one as sophomore forward Courtney Carroll (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) knocked in a free throw and a jumper and junior guard Mariah Barbetti-Cort (Ventura, CA) successfully drove it to the hole.

However, Puget Sound responded less than two minutes later with an 8-0 run to put the Loggers ahead at 37-28 with 10:49 left on the clock.

Redlands pulled within four as sophomore forward Shada Sadeghi (Walnut Creek, CA) chipped in three points, followed by a trey from Bueno at 7:28.

But missed opportunities by the Bulldogs and a consistent offense from the Loggers resulted in the must-foul situation down the stretch as Redlands saw its first-ever NCAA appearance come to a bitter end.

This was Redlands' first loss on the road during the 2010 season.

Carroll scored 13 points to lead the Maroon and Gray. Bueno added 12 points on 3-for-5 shooting from long range. Junior forward Mackenzie Smith (Hoquiam, WA) corralled 11 rebounds for a career high to go along with three blocks.

Redlands (22-6) finishes out the season with the most wins in school history, surpassing last year's record of 19. The team also won the program's third Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) championship and its first SCIAC Postseason Tournament during this exciting run.