The No. 1 seed California Lutheran University Regals basketball team (22-4, 13-3 conference) faced the No. 4 seed University of Redlands Bulldogs (19-7, 11-5 conference), in their first game of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament Thursday night at Gilbert Arena, winning 63-55.
The Regals continued their championship journey against the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas on Saturday, but ultimately fell short 69-58. The team did not receive a bid to compete in the NCAA Tournament, marking the end of its 2025-26 season.
“The game plan was simple. We have to play with energy, play with passion. We needed to execute the plays, and we couldn’t take possessions off, and we needed to rebound,” Head Coach Kelli DiMuro said.
The Regals came into Thursday night holding the No. 1 seed in their conference. In the regular season, the Regals won 21 games overall, with 13 of those wins being against SCIAC members.
“What I really wanted to do tonight was play for the seniors who had a really big game on Senior Night, and I think that kind of lit our fire,” junior guard Kaiya Mack said. “My mindset was just winning, nothing else, like, we had to win this game.”
The first quarter was slow to start for the Regals, with the Bulldogs taking an early lead. With four minutes to go in the first, the Regals were able to pull ahead, but ultimately ended up tied with the Bulldogs 14-all at the end of the first quarter.
“I’d say the biggest challenge on the court was Redlands’ defense. They applied a lot of pressure, they were pushing us out a lot, but it was my teammates were setting me screens, allowing me to get open. They were getting me the ball, making it easier for me to score,” Mack said.
The second quarter was similar at the start with Redlands taking another early lead and holding it for most of the period. The Regals, however, were again able to take the lead, finishing the quarter 27-24.
“[We] definitely had to be hungry for it. We had to dig deep, you know, we were coming off four practices in a row … and kind of play what we know how to play,” said senior guard and captain Janna Holley.
The third quarter saw the Regals continue their lead, but the Bulldogs were never far behind. With five minutes left in the period, Redlands tied up the game 34-34, but ultimately fell back, with the Regals finishing the third quarter 44-41.
“Defense, defense, defense, rebound. That’s what’s gonna win us this game. And just energy, that was my full mindset, and just taking it, giving everything that I got,” Mack said.
In the final quarter the Regals showed why they were the No. 1 seed in their conference, leading by a respectable margin for most of the period. The entire game had been close, with each team pulling ahead at certain points, but in the last period, the Regals came out victorious, winning the game 63-55.
“What helped us really win this game was our team energy, our team chemistry, we all decided that we were going to win this game in the locker room. We were all hyped, cheering for each other, just all coming together, motivating each other,” Mack said. “There’s a fire in everyone.”
The Regals had a total of 23 field goals, with 65 attempts, six three-pointers with an attempted 22, and they made 11 out of 16 free throws. The Bulldogs, on the other hand, made 18 field goals of their 66 attempts, four out of 13 three-pointers, and made 15 free throws out of 24.
“We finished off the game very well. I thought we did a great job of handling the pressure and just staying composed when we were getting bad calls,” DiMuro said.
