THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The Cal Lutheran women's basketball team won their fourth straight game with a 67-62 victory over Redlands on Wednesday night.
The Regals have enjoyed playing inside the friendly confines of Gilbert Arena this season, improving their home record to 5-1 with their only loss coming in a hard fought game against then No. 15 George Fox.
In the second conference game of the season, Chelsea Jacoby got the Violet and Gold on the board early with a fast-break layup for the first basket of the game. The junior guard stayed hot from the field and scored seven of the Regals first 11 points as CLU jumped out to an 11-5 lead.
A key corner three-pointer from Jessica Salottolo a few minutes laterput the Regals ahead 18-10, but Redlands would use a 7-0 run to cut the CLU lead to just one.
Both teams traded baskets for the next few possessions but the Regals were able to maintain the lead and never trailed in the game. Leading 25-24 with 2:59 remaining in the first half, Salottolo buried a jumper to start an 8-0 run to widen the lead for CLU. The stretch featured back-to-back fast-break layups from Jacoby and a steal followed by a layup from Salottolo to give the Regals a 33-24 lead.
Redlands guard Kameran Dage hit one of her four three-pointers right before the half ended to cut the Regals lead to 33-27 going into the break.
In the second half, Jacoby and Salottolo continued to pace CLU on the offensive end and Sofia Cruz got into the mix knocking down two of her three three-pointers in the game.
A three-pointer from Cruz with 13:15 on the clock gave the Regals a 45-35 advantage and their first double-digit lead of the game.
CLU maintained their lead until foul trouble late in the game for the Regals breathed new life into the Bulldogs. There were 40 fouls called on the night between both teams and Jacoby, Natalie Stone and Haley Hodgson all had four fouls in the critical final minutes of the game.
Redlands steadily crawled back into the game and trailed 62-58 with 1:46 remaining.
Coming out of a timeout, Stone found Katy Lindor who knocked down her first shot of the game to give the Regals a six-point advantage.
Redlands was able to get to the free-throw line three more times in the game after Stone and Hodgson each committed their fifth foul and as a result fouled out of the game.
The Bulldogs cut it down to a one-possession game 64-61 but Cruz went to the line and sank two clutch free-throws to secure the victory.
Jacoby led the Regals with 22 points on 7-for-12 shooting and Salottolo added 20 points of her own while pitching in seven rebounds and three assists. Cruz eclipsed the double-digit point mark with 13 on the night and added three assists to go along with her three three-pointers. Lindor led CLU with 10 rebounds and also had four assists in the game.
Victoria Fakalata led the Bulldogs with 20 points and 12 rebounds and Dage finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Cal Lutheran (7-4, 2-0 SCIAC) will face their first SCIAC road test as they travel to Pomona-Pitzer this Saturday, Jan. 10 at 4:00 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 67, UR 62
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