WARRIOR WRECKER

Saturday, January 27

Riverside

5:30 p.m.

California Baptist University

*Westmont

1/27/2007 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- On homecoming night, sophomore guard Nicole Davis decided to have some fun.

Not only did Davis score a game-high 27 points in California Baptist's 84-78 upset of No. 24 Westmont, she also put on a dribbling clinic to avoid being fouled in the waning seconds of the win.

“Nicole was spectacular tonight,” said California Baptist head coach Steve Sain. “She continued to put pressure on the defense all night long, and made herself very difficult to contain.”

In the first game of the second half of GSAC play, the Lancers avenge a GSAC-opening loss to the Warriors Nov. 21 and move up to sixth place in the conference with a record of 13-7, 5-6. The loss drops Westmont to 11-7, 6-5?just one game ahead of California Baptist in the conference.

“This team is playing with a lot of confidence right now,” said Sain. “Three weeks ago, we were 0-5 in the GSAC, but since then we've won 5 of our past 6. There's a lot of confidence going around this team right now, the girls believe in what we're doing.”

Davis, who was also 7-for-12 from the field, hit 12 of 16 free throws in the win, including 3 crucial 1-pointers in the game's final 1:22.

Down, 58-60, Davis buried a pair of shots from the charity stripe to tie up the game at 60-60 with 7:44 remaining.

Already on a 14-6 rally that put them ahead 74-66, Erin Greenberg drained a back-breaking trey that put the Lancers up by 11, at 77-66 with just 2:14 left on the game clock.

“Erin was lights out tonight,” said Sain. “She had some really good looks all night long and made us feel very comfortable when she shot the ball. She stepped up and hit some huge shots for us.”

The Lancers, who turned the tables on an ugly first half with 13 points from Westmont turnovers, were able to sit on the lead with a 5-for-6 effort from the charity stripe down the stretch, as Brandie McCann went 4-for-4 from the line in the game's final 3 minutes.

Greenberg was 5-for-8 from beyond the arc, finishing with 21 points, while McCann scored 6 points and hauled a way a team-high 9 boards in the win.

“It was a total team effort tonight,” said Sain. “We made the big plays down the stretch against a very good team. Our free-throw shooting and rebounding kept us in control of the tempo all throughout the second half.”

Despite 14 giveaways that turned into 14 Warrior points in the first half, the Lancers went into the break trailing by just one point, at 36-37.

After it missed its first 5 shots from the field, including a pair of treys, California Baptist finally put itself on the scoreboard on a Davis layup, but the Lancers trailed by 8 when Annie Johnson followed up a jumper with a 3-pointer, making the score 18-10 with 10:44 left in the half.

Stephanie Anderson buried a 3-pointer that stretched the Westmont lead to 23-16 at the 8:52 mark, but the Lancers pulled within one, at 25-24, thanks to 4 points from Greenberg in an 8-2 California Baptist rally.

The Lancers fell behind by 7 points again, when Jennifer Tolle scored to make it a 31-24 game, but they responded with a 9-2 run, featuring 4 points from Nicole Davis, that knotted the contest for the first time, at 33-33.

Anderson's jumper with 15 seconds on the clock closed out the half and erased the Lancers' only lead of the half. Fisiikava, who was 2-for-2 from beyond the arc, had given California Baptist a 36-35 lead with 49 seconds to play.