THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – California Lutheran University (7-4) topped Saint Joseph's College (6-6), 72-66, in a non-conference women's basketball game on Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The host Regals started the contest with nine unanswered points with three different players hitting shots from downtown in the opening 90 seconds and led by a game-high 17 points (21-4) after Alline Ballard made a layup with 2:16 left in the first quarter.

Trailing 28-12 at the 8:54 mark of the second stanza, the Monks netted nine straight points to climb back into the game and faced a 38-30 deficit going into intermission.

The Monks played much better coming out of the break and proceeded to secure their first lead of the game with 2:10 left in the penultimate period, when sophomore Maddie Lebel (Hermon, Maine) nailed a pair of free throws to lift SJC to a 47-46 edge. Senior Angelica Hurley (Groveland, Mass.) capped the third quarter scoring when she made a three-pointer with 47 seconds to give the Royal Blue a 50-48 advantage.

The Monks extended their lead to five points (55-50) when sophomore Grace Ramsdell (Wells, Maine) connected on a three with 8:37 left in the fourth, but the Regals rallied with a 16-6 run – which included eight points from Ballard - over the following five minutes to reclaim the lead for good.

STATS OF THE GAME:

Cal Lutheran netted 16 points off 22 Saint Joseph's turnovers and shot 78.9% (15-19) from the free throw line to earn their seventh-consecutive victory.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Ramsdell registered a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds
• Hurley scored 13 points with nine boards and three assists
• Sophomore Elisabeth Stapelfeld (Brookline, N.H.) was 6-for-6 from the floor with 12 points and three rebounds

LEADERS – CAL LUTHERAN:

• Ballard led all players with 29 points and 12 rebounds while blocking three shots and dishing out a pair of assists
• Sara Mills scored 15 points with four steals
• Kaiya Mack tallied 10 points, six rebounds, and six assists

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's will host Colby-Sawyer College in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 1:00 PM.

$website.include("/bp")