THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Cal Lutheran women's basketball (4-0, 0-0 SCIAC) hosted a feisty Texas Lutheran (3-1, 0-0 SCAC) squad on Saturday evening, defeating the Bulldogs 70-67 after a back-and-forth final quarter. Freshman Kaitlyn Brongiel stepped up on defense after her team fell into some foul trouble, and starting forwards Sydney Heyn and Alline Ballard each recorded double-doubles in the win.

Entering the contest, the Regals had won their first three games with an average margin-of-victory of over 40 points, so Texas Lutheran presented their first challenge of the season. The Bulldogs received votes in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top-25 and won their first three contests, including an impressive road victory over Hardin-Simmons.

Cal Lutheran got off to a scalding-hot start, putting up 26 points in the first quarter shooting 9/15 from the field, 4/8 from three, and 4/4 from the foul line. Nine different Regals scored in the opening eight minutes, led by two three-pointers from Natalie Villamor. Brongiel recorded three blocks as Cal Lutheran held the Bulldogs to just 14 points in the frame.

An offensive rebound and putback from Ballard extended the Regals' lead to 14 with 8:25 remaining in the second quarter, which would be their largest lead of the evening. Cal Lutheran wasn't able to replicate its efficient shooting from the beginning of the game, but a pair of treys by Anna Sherman helped Cal Lutheran retain a comfortable lead as it headed into the half up 41-31.

With Ballard having already committed three fouls, Brongiel started the second half in just her fourth collegiate game. Less than two minutes into the second half, she picked up her fifth block of the game. After that, Texas Lutheran stopped testing her in the paint.

A Cal Lutheran scoring drought of almost four minutes allowed the Bulldogs to creep back into the game, but a putback by Devyn Berry and a steal leading to a layup by Janna Holley extended the Regals' lead back to nine with under four minutes remaining in the period. However, Texas Lutheran scored seven unanswered points to end the quarter, making the score 51-49 heading into the fourth, advantage Cal Lutheran.

A pair of quick Bulldogs' layups gave them their first lead since the first basket of the game. The Regals responded with a nifty driving layup by Esabel Otsuji and a quick steal of the ensuing inbound pass that led to a Kaiya Mack three. Neither team was able to separate until back-to-back buckets by Cal Lutheran off the hands of Holley and Heyn made it 70-65 Cal Lutheran with under two minutes remaining.

Ballard provided a huge block with 34 seconds left to retain possession for Cal Lutheran, and it would go on to remain undefeated 70-67 after Texas Lutheran failed to get any late-game offense going.

Heyn scored a team-high 13 points and added 10 boards for her second double-double of the young season. Sherman knocked down three shots from beyond the arc en route to 11 points, a new career-high for the junior. Mack stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points (5/10 FG), four rebounds, a block, and two steals.

Despite foul trouble, Ballard managed her first double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds, adding two assists, a block, and two steals. Holley continued her consistent stellar play on both ends of the floor with eight points and game-highs of six assists and three steals.

Brongiel was a game-changer, playing 21 minutes and tallying game-highs of 15 rebounds and five blocks. She added a steal for good measure.

Cal Lutheran will look to remain in the win column when it travels to Riverside to face La Sierra on Wednesday for a 6pm tip-off.