California Baptist University
Dixie State (Utah)
IT AIN'T EASY GUARDING GREEN(BERG)
12/9/2006 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- While her first 30 points were impressive by themselves, Erin Greenberg's 33rd point made all the difference Saturday night at the Van Dyne Gym.
With her team clinging to a 1-point lead with 5:22 left on the game clock, Greenberg sunk a 3-pointer that not only marked her final points on the night, but also set the Lancers on a furious 12-2 rally that wrapped up an 86-78 victory over NCAA Division II opponent Dixie State (Utah).
Coming off a 3-game losing streak that was snapped at home with a non-conference win Tuesday night, the Lancers have now won 2 in a row, improving their record to 6-3. Dixie State, which dropped a decision last night at Biola, falls to 5-5 on the season.
"Our tempo was very good tonight," said California Baptist head coach Steve Sain. "We had good looks in the second half, and we took care of those opportunites very well. Erin's performance was awesome, as was [Kristina Mitchell's]. Our players stepped up in the key situations all night long."
Sain, who said he stressed the need for sustaining a consistency from the first half to the second that the team lacked in Tuesday night's win, where the Lancers shot nearly 30 percent lower in the second half than they did in the second half, said he was pleased with tonight's result. California Baptist shot 41.7 percent (15-for-36) in the first half and 42.9 percent (15-for-35) in the game's final half.
Led by Greenberg's 6 buckets from beyond the arc, the Lancers were 12-for-35 from 3-point distance on the night, as Nicole Davis, who ended with 22 points, chipped in with 3 hoops from long-range.
After a layup by Dixie State's Lacey Christensen (11 points, 3 assists) knotted the score up at 60-60, Greenberg responded by sinking all 3 free-throw shots with just over 12 minutes to play. The Rebels came back right away, with Lindsay Christensen's only 3 points of the night followed by a jumper by Jessica Carver (15 points) that took the lead at 65-63.
Greenberg, who shot 57.9 percent (11-for-19) from the field, tucked away another 3-pointer that took the lead at 66-65, but the Rebels would come back again with the help of Lacey Christensen's jumper to make the score 71-70.
Davis then scored to take the lead for good, at 72-71, and Lauren Laurent scored off her own offensive rebound to give the Lancers a 3-point advantage at 74-71 with 6:24 to play.
Overall, California Baptist out-rebounded the Rebels 41-33, including a lopsided 17-6 mark on the offensive boards.
The Lancers went into the locker room with a 47-45 lead thanks to solid first-half efforts from Davis and Greenberg, who finished with 17 and 16 first-half points, respectively. Laurent and Adaobi Gwacham each grabbed 7 boards in the first half.
Laurent finished the evening with 16 rebounds and 9 points.
