ROYALS LEAVE LANCERS WITH NO HOPE AND 75-72 LOSS
1/3/2006 8:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- History was on the side of California Baptist Tuesday night.
Unfortunately, not much else was. It had been 19 years and 19 games since Hope International had beaten California Baptist. In fact, the Royals have never beaten the Lancers.
So much for history as Hope International scored 56 first-half points then held off a furious second half rally to stun the NAIA's No. 20-ranked Lancers, 75-72, handing the Lancers their third straight loss.
With the loss, California Baptist drops to 8-5, 2-1 GSAC. Hope International wins its fourth in the past 5 games to improve to 8-3, 1-1.
“We're a little out of sync right now,” said California Baptist head coach Steve Sain. “We're not playing like we were in the first 10 games of the year. The desire, intensity and hustle?the inexcusables as I like to call them?were not there at all tonight.”
Nicole Davis led all players with 27 points. She also grabbed 6 rebounds and had 4 assists.
After falling behind 56-34 at halftime, the Lancers woke up and mounted an improbable comeback. The allowed just 19 second half points and ended the game with a 28-8 run, but it was too little too late.
“A comeback is only good if you win,” said Sain. “We got back into the game, but from a coaching standpoint, we're 13 games into the season, so there's no such thing as a moral victory.”
Stephanie Wenke made a lay-up to give the Royals a 67-44 lead with 10:46 to play. Those were the last points for the Royals for the next 7:12 as the Lancers responded with 18 straight, capped by a 3-pointer by Erin Greenberg, to get within 5 points (67-62) with 3:58 to play. That was as close as they were since the 13:27 mark of the first half.
Allison Wulff sank a pair of free throws, and HIU scored 8 of the next 10 points to push the margin back up to 11 (75-64) with 2:14 remaining and then held on.
Four Royals reached double figures, led by Carly Andrews' 19 points. Jasmine Nault added 16.
Hope International never trailed, scoring the first 4 points. The Lancers missed their first 10 shots, and the Royals eventually opened a 30-18 lead with 7:08 left when Vanessa Wilt picked up her fourth foul of the half.
Andrews scored 10 of the next 22 Royal points as they used a 22-7 run over a 6:08 span to open a 52-25 lead with 2:22 to play. Andrews capped the spurt with a trio of free throws to give the Royals their largest lead of the game. Leiloni Malone scored 6 points, and Davis sank a trey as the Lancers scored 9 of the final 13 points of the half to get within 22.
The Lancers missed 12 of their first 14 shots and 17 of their first 23. Meanwhile, the Royals sizzled, going 20-for-37 (.541) from the floor, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc to help increase their lead in the first 20 minutes.
“We had only one player bring any intensity, and that's very uncharacteristic of this team,” said Sain. “I don't recognize a few of my players. They're coming and playing lackluster and not doing the things we were doing in the first 10 games. We have to play with a purpose.”
Greenberg was the only other Lancer to reach double figures as she finished with 12 points. Malone finished with 8, and Adaobi Gwacham chipped with 7 points and 10 rebounds.
