THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Basketball team (14-5, 7-4 SCIAC) held a five-point lead in the final minute and a half of their game at California Lutheran University (CLU) Saturday afternoon, but the Regals would score the final seven points to beat the Bulldogs, 68-66 taking the season series.
After three minutes of play Redlands found themselves trailing 6-0 before Leila Hosn (Seattle, WA) drew a foul and made both of her free throws before finding AJ Wick (Henderson, NV) inside for a layup.
CLU's lead was back to six with :49 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, but Wick got into the paint and finished, while drawing a foul. She made the free throw and helped keep the Bulldogs within a possession, 15-12, after 10 minutes.
Another slow start to a quarter cost Redlands getting outscored by eight, 11-3, in the first four minutes of the second. The slow start had them down by their largest margin of 11, 26-15.
Alex Facelo (San Jose, CA) then responded for the Maroon and Grey knocking down a three off a Teagan McIlroy (Phoenix, AZ) assist. She would also get to the line and make both before making a second three-pointer with 2:29 on the clock as she posted eight of Redlands' 16 points during their 16-4 run that gave them a 31-30 lead only five minutes after trailing by 11.
The Regals tied the game at 31-31 going into halftime after making one of two at the free throw line.
With only nine points in six minutes in the third quarter, Wick found Colbi Zorich (Woodinville, WA) inside and Wick went back-to-back giving the Bulldogs their largest lead of the game at three, 46-43, with 2:30 on the clock.
They then led by three at the end of three quarters thanks to a Hosn jumper in the paint with :26 ticks remaining.
CLU scored the first three points of the fourth to tie the game at 52-52 before Wick got to the line making two and then forced a turnover leading to a Hosn three that pushed the lead to five, 57-52.
The lead fluctuated between one and five over the next seven minutes, but they would never relinquish the lead.
Zorich re-established the five-point advantage with 1:26 to play but that was quickly cut to two, 66-64, after a Regal three :18 seconds later.
Following a missed layup inside by Redlands with :33 seconds remaining in the game, CLU called a timeout. They drew a foul with :17 seconds left and made both to tie the game at 66-66.
After a Rich Murphy timeout, the Bulldogs came out and had McIlroy with possession. She dribbled to the edge of the left wing three-point line where she tried to find Hosn for a mid-range post-up, but her pass was slightly too far out of Hosn's reach and they turned it over giving the Regals one final chance with six seconds on the clock.
The Regals called a 30-second timeout advancing the ball into the frontcourt. After the inbounds pass went beyond the top of the three-point line, they would get a driving layup attempt to fall as time expired.
Wick finished with 26 points and eight rebounds and Zorich was the only other Bulldog in double figures with 12. All eight of Facelo's points came during that strong end to the first half.
Redlands returns to Currier Gym for a game against the University of La Verne this Wednesday, February 4 at 7:00 p.m.
