REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands women's basketball team (19-6) defeated Chapman University in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament First Round, 79-61, inside Currier Gymnasium Tuesday evening as AJ Wick became the 13th player in program history to reach 1,000 points and head coach Rich Murphy won his 300th career game.
Teagan McIlroy and Wick opened the scoring with a pair of baskets while the defense did not concede for the first two minutes.
Chapman, though, came back with a quick five points to take a 5-4 lead which would be their lone lead of the game as an 8-0 a Redlands' run pushed them back in front by seven, 12-5.
With the lead cut down to three, 12-9, with 2:59 on the clock, Wick scored in the paint and Aliyah Anderson and Carly Hicks made three combined free throws for their largest lead of eight, 17-9.
The Panthers, however, were the last to score in the first and first to score in the second, cutting the advantage to four, 17-13.
That lead was cut all the way to two, 21-19, with 5:51 on the clock before a 12-2 Bulldog run pushed it to 12, 33-12. During the run Hosn had five points, Andrea Perkins three, Wick two, and Avery Shiring two.
Just like the end of the first quarter, though, it was the Panthers getting the final basket as they made a three as time expired.
Redlands got two stops to begin the third and McIlroy found Perkins for another three to reclaim their 12-point lead. But much like the prior quarters, Chapman fought back, responding with an 8-0 run to cut the lead to two possessions, 36-32.
Over the next six plus minutes under 30 seconds to play in the third, the Bulldogs outscored the Panthers by 12, 16-4, and held their largest lead of the game, 52-36.
That 16-point lead, though, lasted only eight seconds as the final basket of the quarter came from the Panthers who made another late three, this time with 18 seconds remaining.
The late Chapman three connected to the first two points of the fourth as a 5-0 run in 31 seconds reduced the lead to 11, 52-41.
Olivia McIntyre would come right back down the floor and drive to the rim where she drew contact and got to the line and made both. Those were the first two points of an 8-2 run that gave Redlands a 17-points lead, 60-43, with 7:47 to go.
Across the final seven minutes Chapman never got closer than 13 and Redlands secured the game with a 7-of-7 mark at the line in the final 51 seconds.
Wick needed 13 points to reach 1,000 and it was not until the fourth quarter with 4:44 left in the game when she made a jumper in the paint that she reach the milestone. She finished the night with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Hosn, McIlroy, and Colbi Zorich were also in double figures with 15, 15, and 10 points. McIlroy added seven rebounds and six assists. Shiring off the bench made multiple key plays and finished with two points, three rebounds, an assist, and a block.
Redlands now heads to Thousand Oaks to play No. 1 seed California Lutheran University (CLU) on Thursday at 7 p.m. with the winner advancing to the SCIAC Final at the site of the highest remaining seed.
