THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - After dropping its last two games following a 12-game winning streak, the Cal Lutheran women's basketball team was back to its winning ways with a 67-60 victory over Redlands in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) game on Saturday night inside Gilbert Arena.
Trianna Owen drained a three-pointer on the opening possession and followed it up with a layup the next time down the court to get the Regals off to a quick start. A Taylor Messick basket followed by a layup from Grace Derksen gave CLU a 10-4 lead in the early going, but Redlands would crawl back into the game.
The Bulldogs followed with a 10-4 run of their own to tie the game at 14-14, and the teams would trade baskets until the Violet and Gold took a 19-18 lead after the first quarter.
To start the second quarter, Messick continued her hot shooting with back-to-back buckets to widen the Regals lead to 23-18. Redlands, however, would counter with an 11-2 run and outscored CLU 18-11 in the quarter to take a 36-30 lead into the break.
The Bulldogs started the third quarter with a basket to take a 38-30 lead, but then Regals leading scorer, Jessica Salottolo, got hot and brought the Regals back into the game. The junior guard knocked down a smooth jump shot and followed it with a layup to cut the Redlands lead in half. Salottolo then found Messick underneath for a layup and then hit another jumper to tie the game at 38-38.
Sofia Cruz capped off the big comeback, and 11-0 run, with an old-fashioned three-point play.
For the next 13 minutes, neither team would lead by more than three points as the score went back and forth until the Regals found themselves trailing 60-58 with just over five minutes remaining in the game.
Nearly a two and a half minute drought came to an end when Cruz found Tatiana Dunlap for a layup to tie the game at 60-60, and Dunlap returned the favor a moment later with a pass to Cruz to give CLU a 62-60 lead.
Owen drained a jump shot to give the Regals a four-point lead on their next possession and a huge block from Salottolo at the defensive end put the game in the books for the Violet and Gold.
Owen led all scorers with 16 points in the game and Dunlap finished with a game-high 12 rebounds, including six offensive boards. Haley Hodgson finished with 13 points while Messick added 12. Cruz finished with a team-high five assists.
Redlands was led by 12 points from Jade Cheldelin and a game-high six assists from Courtney Chen.
Cal Lutheran (14-5, 8-2 SCIAC) will continue the second round of conference play with a home game against La Verne (3-13, 2-6 SCIAC) this Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 67, UR 60
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