HOME OF BULLDOG WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - 1993, 2004, 2010 SCIAC Champions

After an eight-day hiatus from competition, the University of Redlands women’s basketball team returned to action with a non-conference tilt against No. 1 Illinois Wesleyan University. However, the Bulldogs struggled against the full-court pressure of the Titans, giving up 33 turnovers, while also falling short in the shooting department in the 71-79 defeat.

Illinois Wesleyan jumped out to an early 4-3 lead with 16:48 to go in the opening period and never relinquished control of the game. The Bulldogs trailed by eight at the break and chalked that up to costly turnovers with 20 and poor shooting, going just 6-for-19 from the field.

The Titans stretched their advantage to 15 points with 16:13 to play in the second half, but the Maroon and Gray clawed its way back, moving within four when sophomore guard Christina Rios (San Diego, CA) drove the hole for a lay-up with just over nine minutes to go. However, this was as close as the Bulldogs would get, eventually suffering an eight-point loss to Illinois Wesleyan.

The Redlands bench provided an important spark with 38 points. Sophomore forward Shada Sadeghi (Walnut Creek, CA) stepped up with a team-leading 16 points, which included two three-pointers. Freshman guard Allison Wong (Redding, CA) contributed 13 points, hitting two shots from long range as well. For the starters, sophomore forward Courtney Carroll (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) chipped in 12 points to go along with five rebounds, while senior guard Ali Bueno (San Jose, CA) provided 11 points. Junior guard Mariah Barbetti-Cort (Ventura, CA) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10.

Illinois Wesleyan gained an impressive 27-point performance from senior center Christina Solari (Park Ridge, IL), who hit 17 of her 19 free-throws. Junior forward Stacey Arlis (Glendale Heights, IL) backed her with 14 points.

In a fairly even game, the Titans also choked up 29 turnovers but won a slight edge in the rebound battle, gaining three more offensive boards and one more overall.

Illinois Wesleyan shot 46.2% overall, compared to Redlands’ mark of 41.7%. The Bulldogs won the three-pointer contest, hitting 38.1% while the Titans only connected on 20% of their shots from long range.

Redlands (7-3) looks to rebound from this loss when it heads to the University of La Verne on January 7 for the opening conference game of the 2010 season at 7:30 p.m.