Box Score It came down to a final play, but in the end the University of Redlands (CA) was able to survive a 74-72 victory over the College of Staten Island in women's basketball Saturday afternoon at the CSI Sports & Recreation Center.  For the Bulldogs, they completed their three-game trek in New York with a 3-0 record, winning for the fifth time in a row and improving to 8-2 overall, while the Dolphins saw their six-game skid snapped, falling to 6-2 overall.

Although the game was close the entire way, it was Redlands that had most of the lead and control for most of the game.  Aiding that cause was a 14-4 start to the game over the first 5:40.  Brittany Oster was on fire for Redlands, scoring 10 of those points.  Another Oster lay-in gave Redlands a 16-6 lead, but from there, CSI began to chip away in what was the theme of the first half.  

An 8-0 Dolphins run cut the lead to two, as CSI caught fire a Melanie Johnson basketball and the first of four Megan Myhre three-pointers in the frame, making it 16-14 with 9:26 to go.  But the visitors countered with a 6-0 run aided by a pair of Nina Newman buckets.  From there, CSI swung back again, going on a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to grab their first lead, 26-24, with 3:12 to go in the frame.  The lead was short-lived as Newman canned another three, and a pair of Oster freebies put Redlands up by five, before a Katelyn Hepworth jumper for CSI at the buzzer, cut Redlands' halftime lead to 34-31.

In the second frame, the two teams battled back-and-forth, as the game slowed down thanks to 11 fouls called in the first four-plus minutes.  Redlands was able to power up their lead to as many as 9 points at 13:36, before a 6-0 CSI run, spearheaded by a pair of Nikki Fabozzi buckets cut the lead to 52-49 with 10:58 to play.  Marika Staton stopped the bleeding for the Bulldogs, canning a three, and when CSI later cut it to one, 59-58, with 7:30 to play, Staton again hit a big three to get the lead back to two possessions.

CSI would cut it to a digit on two more occasions, but the team could not turn the corner and Redlands was able to build their lead.  Finally, in the waning moments, two Johnson freebies for CSI made it 71-70, but with the shot clock winding down on the next trip up the floor, Redlands' Madison Sanders-Curry converted an open-look layup to stake her team to a 73-70, edge.  Down to perhaps their last possession, CSI missed a jumper with 10 seconds remaining, but a foul by Oster put CSI back on the line, and Johnson hit another two free-throws to get CSI back to within one, 73-72.  CSI quickly fouled Staton the other way, and the visitor hit one of two shots.  After a CSI timeout, the Dolphins ran one more play, seeing Fabozzi drive down the lane, but the junior was converged on by two defenders and got up an awkward shot that was never near the rim as time expired.  A frustrated CSI team wanted the foul but it was not to come as Redlands was able to hold fast to the 74-72 final.

Despite the loss, CSI had four players in double figures, led by Johnson's 20 points  to go with seven rebounds.  Katelyn Hepworth added 15 points and a team-high 9 rebounds, with Fabozzi finished with 13 points and Megan Myhre had 12, all in the first half.  Redlands was led by Oster's 22 points to go with 9 rebounds while Kameran Dage had 14 points and Sanders-Curry finalized with a game-high 10 rebounds.  Both teams shot an identical 37.7% from the field and had 20 bench points. Second-chance points were the key, as Redlands sports a 16-10 edge in that department, out-rebounding the Dolphins, 45-43 (16-13 on the offensive glass).

CSI will return to action on Friday, December 27, 2013, when they host City College of New York at 5pm in a single contest.  The game is a make-up of a previous snowed out game on December 14.