LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Jan. 31, 2009) – On the final day of
January in 2009, in the second meeting of the season Occidental
College and the University of Redlands tipped off on the court at
Rush Gymnasium in a battle that was more than just a clash for
second place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference standings. On opening night at Redlands, the Bulldogs
tore past the Tigers and tonight, Oxy returned the favor with a
66-50 victory, gaining sole possession of second place in the
conference standings.
After opening up a 15-3 lead in the opening minutes of action,
Occidental widened the gap to 19 points with 6:16 to play in the
first half. The University of Redlands found a rhythm and pulled
the game close with a 17-2 run to pull the score to 31-27 at
halftime.
Brianne Brown nailed one of her five
three-pointers in the game to again give the Tigers a double figure
lead, at 53-41, that they would maintain throughout the remaining
7:23 of regulation to clinch the victory.
Occidental shot 47.1% from the field as a team, led by Brown who
poured in a season-high 25 points on 8-for-10 shooting, including a
perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range. Dior
Williams also hit double-figures with 16 points on
7-for-12 shooting as she was 2-for-2 from long range, adding five
assists.
The Bulldogs were paced by Mariah Barbetti-Cort who scored 19
points and Courtney Carroll who added 15. Overall UR shot 39% from
the field, but were just 4-for-12 from three-point range.
Each team finished with 28 rebounds, Oxy grabbing one more
offensive than UR. Brown, Williams and Stephanie
Babij pulled down six apiece while Carroll finished with a
game-high nine for Redlands.
Defensively Babij also recorded a pair of blocks. Brown came up
with a game leading four steals with Williams and Gillian
Nugent picking up three apiece. Occidental also forced 22
turnovers, which led to 26 points in the game.
UR got a pair of blocks apiece from Carroll and Mackenzie Smith.
Occidental now holds a 14-5 overall record with a 6-2 SCIAC mark
while the Bulldogs fall to 13-6 and are now knotted in a three-way
tie for third place in the conference standings with Whittier
College and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
The Tigers will be back in action on Thursday when they travel
to Cal Lutheran (5-14, 3-5) to race the Regals at 7:30 p.m. in the
Gilbert Arena.
