LA VERNE, CA — Dejanee Gill shined in her Leopard debut and the University of La Verne women's basketball team rallied early in the fourth quarter to give the visiting Bulldogs a scare Wednesday night.

But Redlands did just enough to hold off the Leopards and beat La Verne 73-67.

Gill scored a game-high 16 points off the bench in her first action of the season. She scored eight of her points in the fourth quarter alone and added with six rebounds, one assist, and one steal.

Jazzlyn Johnson and Jasmine Xiong each scored 11 points. Johnson came on strong in the fourth quarter scoring nine of her points and dishing all four of her assists in the frame. The speedy freshman also led the Leopards with seven rebounds. Xiong finished with one rebound, one assist, and one steal.

Heading into the fourth quarter down by 17 points, the Leopards caught fire in the opening minutes of the period, going on a 12-0 run to cut Redlands' lead to 59-55. Johnson and Xiong each knocked down a three-pointer to highlight the run. That was as close as the Leopards would get with the Bulldogs going on a 6-0 run of their own out of a timeout to stay ahead of La Verne.

Mary Nichols grabbed six rebounds and scored three points. Kendall Stanley finished with six rebounds. Destinee Garcia totaled five points, three steals, three rebounds, and an assist. Garcia leads the Leopards with 16 steals this season. Kayla Rubio added four rebounds, four points, and an assist.

The Bulldogs were led by Cassandra Lacey's 14 points and Hanna Jerrier's 13 rebounds and 11 points.

Season Impact

The Leopards suffer their first conference loss of the season, dropping to 6-2 overall and 1-1 in the SCIAC. Redlands improves to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in conference action.

Next Game

The Leopards take a break from SCIAC play when they host Bethesda on Tuesday, December 12 at 7 p.m. It will be the second meeting between the Flames and the Leopards this season. La Verne ran away with the first matchup, winning 95-53.