The name of the game in Braun Athletic Center was defense,
defense, and more defense. The Caltech women had their best
defensive showing of the season against the top SCIAC team,
University of Redlands. The Bulldogs were baffled by the
pressure they met when the Beavers took the floor, and spent the
entire forty minutes trying to figure out who they were
playing. This certainly wasn't the Caltech team they were
accustomed to meeting. The Redlands faces showed the frustration
and surprise as the Beavers took them to task, demanding Redlands
step up their game each and every possession.
Caltech held Redlands to just 49 points for the evening.
The Bulldogs arrived in Pasadena averaging 72 points per outing,
and their usual shooting groove netted 45% from the floor.
Tech held them to a bucket on only 31% of their attempts.
Tech had an aggressive streak that kept building, and forced 23
turnovers from the Dogs. Without the opportunities at the
free throw line, the stage might have been set for a much different
game. Redlands scored 13 points at the line to keep enough
breathing room to stay in control of the game. And three
point shots were precious for Redlands providing the remaining gap
as Caltech took them to task on field goals, coming close to
matching Redlands 16 buckets with their own 12. Tech has yet
to grab a win from Redlands, but this evening's game certainly
looked like a change in that script. Prior to this evening's
14 point gap, the smallest margin of loss on record was 32 points
in the hole during the 06-07 season. Factoring in the youth
on the Tech roster, and that streak of losses may not last much
longer. Techs starting line up had one senior with three
sophomores and a frosh.
Hoping to use the momentum on the defensive end of the floor to
spark some points, the one glaring deficit in the Beavers game was
their ability to score. Tech couldn't find the ire they
needed to push the Redlands defense back on its heels. Taking
only 35 shots in the game, Tech shot only slightly better than the
dogs, hitting 34% of their attempts. The Beavers continue to match
teams on the boards despite having half the number of jerseys in
the mix for stats. With only six people in the game to
Redlands twelve checking in, Tech only lost the rebounding battle
by five, likely on the offensive end due to lack of production in
the shot attempt department.
The Beavers went to the locker room giving Redlands a 14 point
lead, but came out blazing in the second period and played dead
even with both teams scoring 22 in the second half. Erin
Hoops led the Beavers scoring efforts with 12 points, and teammate
Krissy Dahl chipped in 10 points and added to her blocked shot
tally with two more, bringing her season total to 36. Forward
Teri Juarez continued her tough nosed battle on the boards,
grabbing 8 off the glass.
Caltech returns for a second home game this week, taking on the
Athenas of Claremont Mudd Scripps on Saturday in the first game of
the traditional weekend double header with the men. Tip off
is at 5pm.
GO TECH!!!
BOXSCORE
