California Baptist University
Vanguard
PROVING THEY BELONG
11/27/2007 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
RIVERISDE, Calif. ? California Baptist sent a message loud and clear Tuesday night that this isn't the Lancers of old. Despite a 90-87 loss to Vanguard, the Lancers (5-1, 1-1 GSAC) pushed the second-ranked Lions (4-1, 1-0 GSAC) to the final seconds.
The Lancers took their first lead of the game, at 85-84, since early in the first half (11-10) on a Cassandra Tigget and one play with 43 seconds left. The Lions answered with a Melissa Cook jumper to take an 86-85 lead with 27 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Nicole Davis lost the ball on the dribble and it fell right into Cook's hands. CBU was forced to foul and Cook hit both free throws to take the three-point lead with 13 seconds left. Davis then drove the length of the floor to pull it within one at 88-87 with 12 seconds left, but the Lions hit another pair of free throws to put the game away.
“One thing about this team is that every game we've played in, they have played with a ton of heart,” said CBU head coach Danelle Bishop. “That showed so much tonight and I'm proud of their effort. It wasn't anything we did as a coaching staff it was the players deciding they wanted to get down and get after this one.”
Davis scored a game-high 32 points as she was 13-for-20 from the floor and a perfect 5-for-5 for the charity stripe. Bryana Williams recorded her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Erin Greenberg also drained five treys in a 19-point performance.
Vanguard's Jessica Richter, the reigning NAIA Player of the Year, looked to be on pace for huge night as she scored 23 points and had eight rebounds in the first half. The Lions took a 26-15 lead on an 11-0 run midway through the first half and carried the lead into the half at 50-39.
CBU put the brakes on Richter in the second half holding her to just six points and one rebound in the second half. The Lancers outscored Vanguard 48-40, but allowed the Lions to get to the line 21 times in the second half. VUSC converted on 18 of those opportunities.
“We just put one girl focusing on her in the second half, sticking on her like glue and they did a great job in that second half taking her out of the game for the most part,” said Bishop. “Free throws were a huge difference. We need to learn how to get to our defensive spots quicker and not put them at the line so much. When we had a spurts going, we would make little, unnecessary turnovers that just killed us. Also, the offensive boards we gave up in the first half didn't help either.”
The Lancers just missed a chance to end the Lions' 46-game GSAC winning streak, but Vanguard made it 47 straight in the conference and 25th consecutive over CBU with the win.
