SEATTLE - Seattle University women’s basketball’s matchup with CSU Bakersfield was a tale of two halves, with the Roadrunners (3-7) emerging ahead of the Redhawks (4-6) for the 72-51 win inside the Redhawk Center on Saturday afternoon.
Redshirt senior Tamia Stricklin led the Redhawks with 16 points, shooting 46 percent from the field. She went perfect from the free throw line, matching her career high four makes from the stripe. Striklin ended the day with five rebounds to go along with her six FGM.
Graduate Ella Brubaker also finished the day with six makes from the floor, collecting 14 points for her sixth double-digit scoring effort in a row. She finished 2-for-2 from the free throw line while picking up four rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Junior Lucija Milkovic was a spark plug heading into halftime, finishing the day with nine points including her first triple of the season. She picked up two rebounds and two assists.
Sophomore Sydnie Rodriguez paced the team with six rebounds, scoring four while hitting once from behind the arc.
The Redhawks combined for 36 points in the paint while forcing 19 turnovers, scoring 16 points off the miscues from Bakersfield. They shot 88 percent from the charity stripe while picking up two blocks, four steals and handing out seven assists.
Seattle U opened up the afternoon in a back and forth with the Roadrunners, trading buckets and narrow leads until the three minute mark in the first. Following a jumper from Stricklin, the Roadrunners crafted a 12-2 run over the final minutes of the quarter, taking the seven point lead 22-15 after the end of ten minutes.
Trailing by as many as nine in the second quarter, the Redhawks constructed a late surge paved by a 6-0 run with four points from Milkovic and two from Stricklin. The Roadrunners maintained their lead into half after scoring the final five points of the second quarter.
Bakersfield had its second most fruitful quarter in the third, spoiling SU’s comeback. A late hoop and harm cut the deficit to ten as Brubaker completed the three point play with a 1:30 left in the third, but the Redhawks shooting woes would be the decider after 30 minutes.
Seattle U bounced back with a quick 7-2 run through the first two minutes of the fourth, shaving the Roadrunners lead to 12. Bakersfield would take back control through the middle of the quarter before the Redhawks would take a 4-2 run to end the game.
The Redhawks return to action next Wednesday, traveling to Portland for their final non-conference test of the season. They meet Portland State inside Viking Pavilion on December 17 at 7 PM.
Following the holidays, Seattle U makes its debut in the West Coast Conference, traveling to the Bay Area for meetings with Pacific and Santa Clara.
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