WHITTIER, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Basketball team (13-12, 8-8 SCIAC) secured a spot in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament for the 17th-straight season with a 74-66 double overtime win at first place Whittier College Saturday night.
AJ Wick (Henderson, NV), Leila Hosn (Seattle, WA), and Colbi Zorich (Kenmore, WA) got the Bulldogs off to a fast start in the first quarter with eight points in the first three minutes. At the 1:44 mark Wick assisted Zorich on a jumper that pushed the lead to 10, 14-4.
In a slow offensive second quarter Leaya McKinney's (Sedalia, CO) jumper with 2:44 left in the first half kept the Bulldogs ahead by two possessions, 22-16. Whittier, though, scored the final five points, cutting the lead to one, 22-21.
Whittier kept their momentum from the second into the third holding a four-point lead, 36-32, after 30 minutes of play.
After trailing by six in the first two minutes of the final period, Zorich made a layup that began a 17-7 Bulldog run that put them ahead by four, 51-47, with only a minute remaining in the game.
Across those :60 seconds the Poets were able to score the four necessary points that forced overtime, including a jumper with :04 seconds remaining.
In the first five-minute overtime period the lead changed hands seven times, but neither side was able to edge in front as they both scored nine points forcing a double overtime period.
Opening up the second OT period both teams converted on jump shots, but with 3:28 on the clock Hosn got into the paint converting putting UR in front 64-62, a lead that the Bulldogs would hold onto the remainder of the game.
Carly Hicks (Portland, OR) consolidated the lead with a triple :26 seconds later before Redlands would go on to make 5-of-8 free throws to secure the win.
Wick finished with 17 points, 15 rebounds, and four assists and Zorich had a team-high 20 points. Hosn once again came up just short of a triple-double with 11 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists. McKinney contributed an important 14 points and seven rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench.
The win ties the Bulldogs with Pomona-Pitzer for fourth in the final SCIAC standings. Due to a head-to-head tiebreaker for the Sagehens, who went 2-0 against the Bulldogs on the season, they will be the No. 4 seed and will host Redlands, the No. 5 seed, on Tuesday, February 25 at 7:00 p.m. in Claremont for the right to play at No. 1 Whittier Thursday night. The qualification also means that Bulldog Head Coach Rich Murphy has taken the Bulldogs to all 17 SCIAC Tournaments.
