McMINNVILLE, Ore. – The University of Redlands Women's Basketball team (3-5) wrapped up their two-game road trip to the Pacific Northwest Saturday afternoon getting edged 65-59 to Linfield University despite leading by nine early in the third quarter before the Wildcats outscored the Bulldogs 48-33 the rest of the game in their first road loss.
Through the opening seven minutes it was all Wildcats as they led by eight, 14-6. The Bulldogs would respond with jumpers from Leila Hosn (Seattle, WA) and Carly Hicks (Portland, OR) as they cut the deficit to five after the opening ten minutes.
Colbi Zorich (Kenmore, WA) drew a foul and made both free throws on UR's opening possession of the second quarter sparking a 14-1 run the rest of the half with the Bulldogs turning a nine-point deficit into a seven-point halftime lead, 24-17, in just twelve minutes.
During the run Andrea Perkins (Seal Beach, CA) made two threes and scored eight points, while Kayden Sanders (Nipomo, CA) pulled up for a jumper, while the Maroon and Grey held the Wildcats to just two points.
AJ Wick (Henderson, NV) started the second half off with a defensive rebound and finished on the other end to go up nine. Redlands was up by as many as eight as late as the 3:26 mark of the third. But Linfield would score nine of the next twelve points to pull within two, 38-36. Leaya McKinney (Sedalia, CO) would score off a Sophie Christopher (Broomfield, CO) assist in the final :12 seconds and Redlands would take a slight 40-36 lead into the fourth.
Christopher backed up her assist with a made three to open the fourth quarter and extend the U of R lead to three possessions. After a stretch of nearly three minutes going back to the third, Redlands had not allowed a basket and were up nine with 8:59 on the clock.
The final eight and half minutes, however, were dominated by Linfield. The Wildcats scored 29 of the final 43 points as they came back for a 65-59 win remaining undefeated, which included going 4-0 against Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) competition, while the Bulldogs settled for an Oregon split.
Hosn continued to play a strong point finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds, and two assists. Wick ended just a point short of a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds. Perkins had a career-high 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting.
The Bulldogs finished with 16 points off turnovers, had 11 second chance points, earned 20 points from their bench and shot 81.8% from the free-throw line, 33.3% from the field and 40% from three-point territory.
Redlands returns to California where they play their first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) road game at Caltech on Wednesday, December 4 at 7:00 p.m.
