LAS VEGAS – The University of Redlands Women's Basketball team (8-1) extended their winning streak to six games with a 71-65 win over Bridgewater State University (BSU) Tuesday afternoon to wrap up the D3hoops.com Classic.
The Bulldogs won this game thanks to a dominant first quarter. Leila Hosn (Seattle, WA), Andrea Perkins (Seal Beach, CA), and Teagan McIlroy (Phoenix, AZ) combined for 10 points across the first two plus minutes giving Redlands a 10-0 lead.
A couple of minutes later the Bears cut the lead down to four, 10-6, but Carly Hicks (Portland, OR) would knock down a pair of three-pointers in less than :30 seconds helping the Bulldogs score 14 of the final 19 points of the period pushing the UR lead to 13, 24-11.
Across the first four minutes of the second quarter the Bulldogs led by 17 and had held the Bears to just two points during that stretch. BSU, though, was able to cut the deficit to 11, 32-21 until Aliyah Anderson (Oceanside, CA) got to the line converting a pair of free-throws followed by Colbi Zorich (Woodinville, WA) and Perkins each adding two points to make it a 16-point lead with less than a minute to play in the half.
A late foul by Redlands gave BSU the final two points but the lead was still five possessions, 38-24, after 20 minutes.
The Bears made an early push in the first two minutes of the third quarter as AJ Wick's (Henderson, NV) two free throws were the only points for the Maroon and Grey during that time, while BSU added six helping them get within ten, 40-30.
Over the next six minutes, however, Redlands made another run, scoring 17 of the next 27 points, re-establishing their big lead, 57-40. The advantage after 30 minutes was 15 in favor of the Bulldogs.
Back-to-back three-pointers for BSU to begin the fourth made it a single-digit game for the first time in nearly three quarters, 59-50. Wick and Anderson, though, put five more points between them and the Bears after two free throws and a Zorich-assisted, Anderson three-pointer.
Despite a 14-point lead with 7:15 remaining in the game, the Bulldogs conceded a 15-4 run to the Bears, which spanned down to the 1:12 mark seeing their lead cut down to three, 68-65, forcing Head Coach Rich Murphy to call a timeout.
After committing a turnover and taking another timeout, the Bulldogs forced a missed shot from BSU, and Wick grabbed a rebound before Hosn was fouled. She would follow making both at the charity stripe with :14 seconds on the clock sealing the victory.
Zorich finished with a game-high 16 points along with seven rebounds and four assists. McIlroy had another all-around game with seven points, eight rebounds, and six assists, Wick was a rebound away from a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds and Perkins had a double digit game with 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting along with four rebounds and a couple of steals.
Redlands was stellar at the free-throw line shooting 94.4%. They also added 20 points in the paint, 15 second chance points, 11 fastbreak points, and 18 points off turnovers.
This game concludes non-conference play and 2025 competition for the Bulldogs. They make a push into the final 15 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) games beginning this Saturday, January 3 at 2:00 p.m. on the road against Pomona-Pitzer.
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