The University of Redlands women's basketball made the trek to Thousand Oaks on Saturday for an important Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown with the Regals of Cal Lutheran University but came home with a disappointing 56-66 loss. Solid free-throw shooting and a stifling defense allowed CLU to hand the Bulldogs their third conference loss of the season.

Redlands jumped out to an early lead in a tightly contested match and garnered an 11-point advantage when freshman forward Brittany Oster (Agoura Hills, CA) nailed back-to-back free throws with 4:03 left in the first period.

However, the Regal offense rattled off a 10-3 run to finish the half, pulling within four at the break.

The Bulldogs answered back with a solid start to the second stanza, earning an eight-point lead in the opening five minutes. During this stretch, junior guard Mariah Barbetti-Cort (Ventura, CA) and senior forward Mackenzie Smith (Hoquiam, WA) nailed consecutive three-pointers for the Maroon and Gray.

This was Redlands' largest advantage of the second frame.

Cal Lutheran stormed back over the next four minutes to eventually nab the lead at 37-36 when Brianna Parker hit a jumper with 11:50 left on the clock.

A back-and-forth battle ensued through the final 90 seconds with neither team pulling away by more than four points while facing the seventh tie of the game.

With CLU up by four, a Bulldog foul sent Regal Erica Whitley to the line with 1:32 to go. After sinking both shots, she created another opportunity for her team by stealing the ball and leading Donielle Griggs to the basket, making it a seven-point game with less than a minute left in the second half.

As the Redlands offense quieted, Cal Lutheran continued to convert at the charity stripe and put the game out of reach for the Bulldogs by hitting all six attempts in the final 60 seconds.

Overall, Redlands shot a solid 44.4% from the field, complemented by a 46.4% display from three-point land.

The Regals' numbers were not as impressive but they did take advantage of their 38 free-throw attempts, making 27 of them.

Barbetti-Cort led the Bulldogs with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. Junior forward Courtney Carroll (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) chipped in 12 points, four boards and four assists, while Smith stepped up with a career-high-tying 10 points.

CLU's Whitley scored a game-leading 17 points, which included 10 from the free-throw line, to go along with seven rebounds, five steals, and four assists. Starla Wright came off the bench for 14 points, while Channing Fleishmann added 10.

With the loss, Redlands (14-8, 8-3 SCIAC) drops into second place in the SCIAC standings with a one-game lead over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. The Bulldogs look to rebound on Thursday when they host the Athenas at 7:30 p.m. in Currier Gym.