LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Feb. 20, 2010) - In what could be a preview
of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
tournament championship, the Bulldogs and Tigers locked up in a
very physical game, that saw momentum change jerseys several
times. Unlike last time when the Tigers outlasted the
Bulldogs in a nail biter, Redlands tonight was more aggressive and
snapped the 12 game winning streak of Oxy with a decisive 66-54
win.
Redlands put the Tigers on notice, early on, that this game
would be won or lost in the paint, as they ran three consecutive
plays to set up Courtney Carroll in the post that resulted in six
quick points. The Tigers countered by showing zone and
slowing the pace of the game way down, with 7:28 left in the half,
the score was knotted at just 15 apiece. Neither squad could
really put together much of a run as both teams were evenly
matched.
Carroll ended up leading the Bulldogs attack in the first half
with 10 points as they fought their way to a 27-24 halftime
lead. The Tigers ball movement kept the Bulldogs from
focusing their defense on one scorer. Makenzie
Brandon led the way with 7 points while Dior
Williams dropped five points while grabbing 8
rebounds.
The second half was another back and forth affair, and with
exactly 10 minutes showing on the game clock, both teams were again
tied at 38. The eleventh tie of the game was broken by a
William's freethrow, but Carroll answered again, with another
finish in the paint. That score started a 10-0 run, which in
a game this close, seemed like a much bigger hole for Oxy to dig
out of.
The Black and Orange responded with a run of their own, as
Britinee Yasukochi drove through the defense for
back to back scores, looking like Stephanie Babij
on one drive as she posted her man up and then finished with a
dropstep after faking the spin move. Babij then scored inside
while Williams sank four consecutive freethrows, cutting the lead
to four. But that was as close as the Tigers would get, this
night belonged to the Bulldogs, as they made the big plays down the
stretch and clinched a share of the 2010 SCIAC conference
championship.
Usually, one of Oxy's strengths is freethrow shooting, but
tonight they only connected on 61.9% and for the game shot an
anemic 35.1% from the field. Although they won the battle of
the boards, 40-35, it seemed like Redlands always secured the big
rebound.
Carroll led the Bulldogs (20-5, 12-2) to a share of the
conference title with a team high 17 points. Oxy was led by a
trio of seniors, playing their final regular season home game, as
Williams finished with a game high 19 points and 16 rebounds.
Yasukochi added 11 points while Babij came through with 10 points
and six rebounds.
But for the Tigers (20-5, 12-2) and their six seniors, which
also include Gillian Nugent, Samantha Rossi, and
Brittany Mally, this will not be the last time
they play in Rush Gymnasium, by virtue of securing the number one
seed they will be back in action this Thursday, February
25th, hosting one semifinal in the SCIAC Conference
tournament. Their opponent will be Claremont-Mudd-Scripps,
who had to win their final four games to secure the fourth seed,
but did so by an average margin of 23.7 point per game.
In the other semifinal, Cal Lutheran will travel to the
University of Redlands. Redlands handed Cal Lutheran a 29
point drubbing Thursday night, but with an NCAA berth on the line,
the regular season stats go out the window.
The battle for the automatic SCIAC berth begins Thursday, with
tip off in Rush Gymnasium scheduled for 7:30pm.
Article by Mike Talamantes, Sports Information
Assistant
