REDLANDS, Calif. (Jan. 28, 2010) - Riding another stellar night by Stephanie Babij, the Tigers were able to hold off a late rally to stay in the hunt for their third consecutive regular season conference title.  The host Bulldogs went into halftime up five and twenty minutes away from holding onto the top spot in the conference, but then a 16-0 run to start the half by the Tigers, fueled by 18 second half points by Babij, was too much for Redlands to overcome.

The Bulldogs did everything right in the first half, as they turned away every run by the Tigers, with timely shooting or big defensive stops.  Scoring 12 points off turnovers and 11 on second chance opportunities, while the Tigers only scored a combined 11 points in those two categories, Redlands was in complete control of this SCIAC contest.

But both teams came out with a different look in the second half, Redlands was not as sharp to start, and what seems to be a continuing trend in conference play, the Tigers shifted to another gear to start the half and rolled to an 11 point lead as they held the Bulldogs scoreless for the first seven minutes.

The black and orange were far from putting this game away, as Redlands started to mount a comeback, looking more like the team that started the game.  Courtney Carroll got hot, as she led the Bulldogs with 24 points, 15 of them coming in the second half. 

With ninety seconds left, Carroll connected on a jumper from the wing, tying the game up for the seventh time at 62 apiece. 

The Bulldogs defense then held up, and on the next possession, Mariah Barbetti-Cort converted on one of two freethrows to retake the lead.  A missed jumped by Laura Mohler with only 14 seconds left forced the Tigers to foul.  Dior Williams had no choice but to wrap up Carroll with just 10 ticks left. 

Carroll missed the front end of a one and one, and the Tigers secured the board, and called a timeout with just nine seconds left.

The Redlands defense locked down, and forced another Oxy timeout with just 3 on the clock. 

With 28 on the night, Babij had to work hard to get open, but found a sliver of light and jumped to the ball.  Then drove to the rim and forced up a tough shot, drawing the foul with just one second left. 

Babij then calmly stepped to the line and sank both freethrows.  The Bulldogs (13-5, 5-2) made one last gasp effort but it was not to be, as the Tigers came up big down the stretch and picked up their 14^th win of the year.

Makenzie Brandon was also instrumental tonight with 11 points while Williams controlled the glass with 7 points and, a game high, 10 boards for the black and orange.

Oxy (14-4, 6-1) now sits in a tie for first place with Cal Lutheran (6-1), as Cal Lu knocked off Whittier tonight.  The Tigers will return home Saturday, January 30^th, as round two of SCIAC play begins with a home match up with Pomona Pitzer (5-11, 1-6) with tip off at 5pm.