The No. 2-seeded University of Redlands women's lacrosse team jumped out to a 3-0 lead over third-seeded Whittier College in the first-ever Southern California Intercollegeiate Athletic (SCIAC) Championship Tournament and cruised to a 14-6 victory over the Poets in today's semifinal.

With the win, the Bulldogs advance to tomorrow's final against top-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, which handily defeated fourth-seeded Pomona-Pitzer Colleges by a score of 22-2 in today's other semifinal game.

Against Whittier, the Bulldogs garnered a 6-1 lead with 15:48 remaining in the opening period as junior midfielder Christy Smith (St. Louis Park, MN) notched four of her six goals and freshman midfielder Katie Colasurdo (Eugene, OR) scored twice.

The Maroon and Gray closed out the half with goals by senior attack player Anna Moriarty (Oak Park, IL), Smith, sophomore attack player Blair Callaghan (Tacoma, WA) and freshman attack player Aimee Dewan (Alamo, CA) to take a 9-2 lead at the break.

Dewan found the back of the net just two minutes and 16 seconds into the second period but Whittier erupted with three consecutive goals to cut the Bulldogs' lead to five.

Nonetheless, Redlands continued to push offensively with three different players scoring goals during a seven-minute span that began with 11:55 remaining.

Smith put away her sixth goal of the game with just over a minute to play, making it a 14-6 victory for the Bulldogs.

Sophomore goalkeeper Ana Martinez (Pleasanton, CA) earned the win in 60 minutes of action while making 12 saves.

Colasurdo and sophomore midfielder Megan Prickett (Poway, CA) led the team in draw controls with three apiece.

Redlands (11-6, 6-3 SCIAC) takes on the Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in tomorrow's 1 p.m. final match, which is hosted by Whittier.