THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Cal Lutheran women's basketball is headed to the SCIAC Tournament Championship for the second year in a row, defeating Chapman 83-69 in the semifinal round on Thursday evening. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Led by 20-point performances by newly-anointed First Team All-SCIAC members Janna Holley and Alline Ballard, the Regals (20-7) were dominant across all four quarters in the win, shooting an even 50% from the field while holding the Panthers (12-14) to just 39.7%. 

With the Regals holding a slight 20-18 advantage after one quarter, they separated in the second, going on a 10-2 run over the first five minutes of the quarter. A steal by Alexa Greenwood led to a Holley fastbreak bucket to put them up 12 points, and Ballard hit a turnaround jumper to cap off a big second quarter. The Regals led 40-29 at the break. 

Coming out of halftime, the Regals electrified the home crowd with a series of high-energy plays, including a three-pointer from Sara Mills that pushed her over the 1,000 career points mark. Mills' three sent the home faithful into a frenzy, extending the Regal lead to 17 points, 50-33. 

Kaiya Mack scored the Regals' first points of the fourth quarter to make it 65-52 and cruised the rest of the way to secure the win, not letting the Panthers get within single digits. 

The Regals' 83 points broke the SCIAC Tournament single-game record, while Ballard's 19 rebounds tied the conference tournament single-game record.

FROM HEAD COACH KELLI DIMURO
On the gameplan and execution: "Coming to this game, we wanted to deny the ball more and were prepared to play a much more physical game than our last matchup with Chapman. We worked together as a team to scout and come up with a plan. To me, it was just about loving the game, playing together, and stepping up defensively."

On playing for the SCIAC Tournament Championship for the second year in a row: "I love how we match up against Whittier. We've prepared for this all season. We're coming together and peaking at the right moment."

UP NEXT
The Regals seek their first SCIAC Tournament Championship since the 2012-13 season. The SCIAC Championship, and ticket to the NCAA Tournament, will be decided when the Regals travel to Whittier to take on the top-seeded Poets on Saturday, March 1, at 7 p.m.