Photo: Bob Paz

REDLANDS, Calif. (Jan. 18, 2020) – The Caltech women's basketball team nearly made it two-in-a-row when they traveled to the University of Redlands, a team that entered Saturday's evening's SCIAC contest 6-0 against conference foes this season.

Freshman forward Sahana Saikumar (Arcadia, Calif. / Arcadia)'s strong effort on both sides of the ball fueled the visiting Beavers, particularly in the early going. Saikumar scored 16 of her 27 points in the first half and shot 57-percent from the field while making all three free throws. She even led the visiting team on the glass with eight rebounds to help her team to a 39-36 edge in that department. Six of the rookie sensation's boards came on the defensive end.

As Redlands began to hone in on Saikumar late in the game, the players around her only grew stronger. Senior guard Grace Peng (San Ramon, Calif. / California) scored six of her 13 points in a fourth-quarter that saw the visiting Beavers stage a near thrilling comeback after entering the final frame trailing by 12. Peng also broke the program's career assist record with a trio of dimes and now sits at 231 on her career with plenty of time to build on the new mark.

Caltech exploded for 22 team points during the fourth, more points than either team scored in any individual quarter on Saturday. Freshman guard Faith Pinney (Spokane, Wash. / Gonzaga Preparatory School) added to the Beavers' big run with five fourth-quarter points stemming from a pair of baskets that Peng assisted on. Saikumar, meanwhile shrugged off a tough third-quarter to give her team nine points in the fourth, the last of which made it a one-possession game with just under a minute to go. Both teams took care of the basketball at an impressive clip and Caltech even won the turnover battle by forcing the Bulldogs into six turnovers to the visiting team's five, a new Caltech program record.

A victory on Saturday would have handed the Bulldogs their first SCIAC loss of the season, but the Beavers will have another chance at the conference's first-place team on Saturday, Feb. 15.

Head Coach Bridgette Reyes and the Beavers will hope to continue riding this week's momentum when they travel to 3-4 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m.

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