Box Score REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands came out hot tonight, sprinting to a 20-3 lead over the first nine minutes of the contest. The Tigers clawed their way back though, led by Laura Mohler's 30 point effort, but the Bulldogs held on late for an important 65-58 win, in this Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tangle between the co-defending champions.
A layup by Stephanie Scamman gave Oxy a 2-1 lead 90 seconds into the contest. But the next Tigers basket did not come until the 8:54 mark of the first half when Mohler sliced through the defense for a layup, but that only cut the lead to 13, as the scoreboard had the home Bulldogs ahead 20-7.
Moments later down 27-12 with just under six minutes to play, the Black and Orange finally found their shooting touch, as Marquisha Corley nailed a wing three pointer to ignite a 14-6 run by the three time defending SCIAC champs. The Tigers run sent them into halftime down by single digits, 33-26.
Oxy kept pushing the tempo and that 14-6 run to end the first half ballooned to a 26-11 swing over a total of 12 minutes, with the Tigers staring up at a scoreboard that read UR 39 Oxy 38 with 14:37 left to play in regulation.
The Bulldogs were able to respond and the Black and Orange could not overtake the home squad and although the Tigers cut it to three with just 38 seconds left, Redlands had an answer for every Tigers run on this night.
Foul trouble also plagued the Tigers in the second half, as both Makenzie Brandon and Scamman would foul out late in the game and Katelyn Rowe had to play the last 15:04 of regulation with four personal fouls. Brandon, the Tigers leading scorer, was limited to just 19 minutes because of foul trouble and finished with just two points.
Four out of five starters (Stephanie Babij also finished with four fouls) were in foul trouble most of the night, limiting their effectiveness, but it was Mohler who picked up the slack with a season high 30 points while picking up 3 steals, almost willing the Black and Orange to victory late with another three pointer to cut the deficit to 55-58 as Brandon and Scamman were already done for the night and could do nothing but cheer the Tigers on from the sideline.
Redlands (12-7, 6-2) was coming off a tough double overtime loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and needed this victory to keep pace with the Tigers (11-8, 6-2) in the SCIAC standings. The Bulldogs, led by a 23 point nine rebound performance by Mariah Barbetti-Cort, pulled themselves into a familiar position, sitting in a tie for first place with Oxy.
Even though reigning SCIAC Player of the Year Babij was saddled with four fouls, she still played 38 minutes and scored seven points to go along with a team high seven rebounds. Helping the Black and Orange hold their own on the boards, as Redlands held just a slight two rebound edge on the glass (38-36), but it was just enough on this night.
The Tigers and Bulldogs now sit in a tie for first place in the SCIAC at 6-2, with three teams close on their heels at 5-3 (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Cal Lutheran and La Verne), with one game separating first and fifth in this conference race that may go down to the final day to decide the four SCIAC playoff spots.
Oxy returns home on Saturday, February 5th, to face CMS in another important SCIAC game. Tipoff is scheduled for 5pm.
