REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Basketball team (13-11, 9-7 SCIAC) beat Occidental College on Saturday and with Whittier College's loss UR earned the fourth seed in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament. The Bulldogs travel to Thousand Oaks to face off with the No. 1 seed California Lutheran University Regals (CLU) (18-6, 13-3 SCIAC) tonight, Thursday, February 22 at 7:00 p.m.
SCIAC Postseason Tournament History
Redlands has now participated in all 16 postseason tournaments, the only school to do so and all under the tutelage of Head Coach Rich Murphy. The Bulldogs have nine wins (second most), three championships (second most), four total championship game appearances (tied for second most), and a 9-13 overall record.
Their last championship came last season when they beat No. 1 La Verne on the road earning themselves a spot in the NCAA Tournament. They will look to be the first team to win back-to-back championships since Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) won four-straight from 2014-17.
Current statistical records held by Redlands include former Bulldog Hannah Jerrier who holds the record for the most rebounds in a tournament with 36 in 2020. She also holds the blocked shots in a game record with seven in 2022. Courtney Carroll holds the tournament blocks record with nine in 2012.
Team records include the team points record, scoring 79 points two of the four times. They did it last year against CMS in the Semi-Final win 79-75 and then in the 2022 Quarterfinals against CLU when they won 79-51. The 154 total points between the Bulldogs and Athenas last season was a record. The Bulldogs also hold the single-game block record with 10 in the 2020 final and the tournament record with 13 in 2012 and 2020.
The winner of this game will play the winner of the other Semi-Final between No. 2 University of La Verne and No. 3 Occidental College on Saturday at the site of the highest remaining seed.
Cal Lutheran
The Regals have lost only six times this season and three times in SCIAC play. They got off to a slow start with three losses in-a-row in Texas against Trinity University (Texas), Hardin-Simmons University (HSU), and Texas Lutheran University. Trinity is currently receiving votes for D3hoops.com Top-25 and HSU is No. 16. They also rank No. 4 and No. 1 in the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Region X rankings.
Their three SCIAC losses were at No. 3 Occidental College at fifth place Chapman University and at No. 2 University of La Verne.
Head-to-head vs. CLU
In the first SCIAC game of the season the Regals won inside Currier Gym 66-57 (Box Score). In the return trip to Thousand Oaks Redlands lost 67-50 (Box Score).
The Bulldogs and Regals are tied with 21 wins apiece dating back to January of 2006. CLU has won the last three games after the Bulldogs won four in-a-row in 2022-2023. The Bulldogs are 4-6 in their last 10 meetings with the Regals and hold a 9-11 road record.
Team Leaders
In SCIAC play the Bulldogs are led by All-SCIAC First Team selection Colbi Zorich (Kenmore, WA) who averaged 16 Points, 7.4 Rebounds, 1.8 Assists, and 1.5 Steals per game. Her scoring average is fifth highest, Rebounding is 11th, and Steals is 15th.
All-SCIAC Second Team selection Aliyah Anderson (Oceanside, CA) averaged 11.8 Points, 6.9 Rebounds, 4.6 Assists, and 1.3 Steals per game. She is 21st in scoring, 13th in Rebounds, and second in Assists.
AJ Wick (Henderson, NV) just missed averaging a double-double at 10.4 points and 9.9 rebounds. Her rebounding rate is tied for the fourth highest.
For the Regals Alline Ballard, Janna Holley, and Sara Mills are their top-three scorers in SCIAC play averaging 13.5, 12.8, and 12.5 points respectively, which ranks 10th, 13th, and 16th.
Ballard is tied for second in rebounds at 11.4 while Aliya DiMuro is ninth at 8.1 and Grace Godines is 22nd at 4.4.
Holley led the conference in assists at 5.2 and had the best assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.3 as she had 78 assists to only 34 turnovers.
