SEATTLE - Moving to 2-0 for the first time since 2007, the Seattle University women’s basketball team (2-0) took control early and never looked back on the way to an 80-55 lopsided victory over UC Riverside (1-1) inside the Redhawk Center on Friday night.
Junior Cristina Jones went for a season high 22 points to lead the team, shooting 10-19 from the field. Jones, after logging her first double-double of the season in the win against New Mexico, finished one rebound shy of getting her second in as many games, finishing the night with nine rebounds including three offensive boards. Jones led the team in steals for the second straight game, picking up four while logging a block. She capped the night with three assists, a new season high.
Sophomore Alanna Neale recorded a new career high, scoring 20 on 46.7 percent shooting from the floor. Neale saw a flurry of career bests, recording seven rebounds, including three offensive boards, while tying her career high in steals with two. The sophomore guard led the team with five makes from the charity stripe, marking a new career high in free throws made for the Los Angeles native.
Also scoring in double-digits was sophomore Sophie Buzzard, who scored 12, shooting 40 percent from the field and 60 percent from three. Buzzard connected for a new career high three triples, while grabbing five rebounds and two steals.
Fifth year Shelley Duchemin and freshman Gabriela Escorial combined for 11 points off the bench, with Duchemin shooting 66.6 percent from three on three attempts. Escorial also connected from downtown, ending the day with five points. Escorial grabbed a new season high three steals, while the pair combined for 11 rebounds. Escorial paced the two with three assists.
Orchestrating the offense with Jones and Escorial was junior Erin Sellers, who led the team with four assists, one shy of her career best. Sellers was one of six Redhawks to end the night with a make from behind the arc.
The Redhawks shot a combined 41.1 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from three point land, holding the Highlanders to 34.7 shooting from the floor. Seattle U grabbed 48 rebounds, including 23 offensive boards, and handed out 16 assists. The Redhawks grabbed 13 steals and picked up two blocks, pacing UCR in rebounds (48-2), assists (16-8) and steals (13-6).
Seattle U opened with a 23 point first quarter, quickly jumping out ahead 7-0 behind buckets from Buzzard and Jones. The Highlanders would hover within three until a pair of triples from Duchemin and Sellers put the Redhawks back on top by seven with 4:11 left in the opening quarter. Jones would push the lead up to ten, 20-10, with a layup off a UCR turnover before freshman Lindsay Biddle connected from three at the 2 second mark to put Seattle U ahead by 11, 23-12, after the first.
The Redhawks did not relent in the second, putting up another 20+ point quarter, opening with a 10-0 run with scores from Neale, Buzzard, Jones and junior Claire Fraser. UC Riverside responded with a run of its own, scoring the next nine points until Duchemin broke SU's drought with her second make from three. The Highlanders spun another run from the free throw line before the Redhawks closed on a 5-0 run with buckets from Buzzard and Neale to take the 45-29 advantage into halftime.
Following the break, UCR and SU battled in a back and forth, trading buckets, but the Redhawks held their lead by 18 after the opening two minutes of the third quarter. The Highlanders would shave down Seattle U’s lead to 11 before Jones and Neale teamed up in the final 2:30 minutes to keep the Redhawks up by 16. Escorial would claim the final basket of the third, connecting on her lone attempt from three with 21 seconds left in the quarter to put the Redhawks ahead 63-46 entering the final ten minutes.
Jones and Escorial opened the scoring into the first half of the fourth quarter, as Jones kept the Redhawks lead at 17 off a fast break with 5:25 left in the contest. Neale and Jones crafted a 6-0 run over the next two minutes before the Redhawks cleared their bench with three minutes remaining. Senior Ayanna Jackson scored her first bucket of the season with 2:10 left to play before sophomore Dylan Mogel claimed the final basket of the night, scoring three points total in her return to play following her injury in January, to elevate the Redhawks to the 80-55 win.
The Redhawks moved to 2-3 against UC Riverside in the all-time series, improving to 2-1 in home contests against the Highlanders. Seattle U’s win marked the first time the Redhawks have opened 2-0 since the 2007-08 season. The Redhawks head out on the road for their next two contests, battling both UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly before returning to host Pacific Lutheran for their Kids Day game on November 18.
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