NEW YEAR'S WIN
FRESNO, Calif. ? Nicole Davis and
Kendra Morris combined for eight of California Baptist's 10 3-pointers in a 71-57 win over Fresno Pacific Saturday afternoon.
Davis and Morris each hit four treys as the Lancers (10-3, 2-1 GSAC) notched their sixth straight win, marking the longest winning streak under CBU head coach Danelle Bishop. Davis led CBU with 20 points, going 8-of-13 from the field and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Morris scored 16 points with 12 coming off of 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.
Heather Couzens was the only other Lancer in double figures with 10 points and also pulled down four rebounds.
Brianna Estell scored nine points while
Brenna Hahn and
Alyson Haley each scored six.
CBU shot 49.1 percent (26-53) from the field and 47.6 percent (10-21) from 3-point range. The Lancers were also 9-of-10 at the charity stripe for a season-high free throw percentage.
The Lancer's bench made the difference outscoring the Sunbirds' bench 19-3.
CBU didn't score its first bucket until 17:44 in the first half, but trailed just 6-2. Then after FPU took an 8-2 lead, the Lancers used a 10-4 run to tie it at 12-12. Couzens gave CBU its first lead of the game at 16-15 and gave CBU its biggest lead of the half at 22-17 with 8:53 left.
The Sunbirds answered with an 9-3 run to regain the lead at 26-25, but a pair of Davis threes put CBU up 31-26 before the Lancers carried a 34-29 lead into intermission.
FPU cut its deficit to 38-35 early in the second half, but that was as close as the Sunbirds came. The Lancers used a 16-3 run, which included three treys from Morris, to take a 54-38 lead with 12 minutes left in the game.
The Lancers then stretched their lead out to 69-50, the largest margin of the game, on a
Nikki Johnson jumper with 3:55 left to play.
The win is the second straight win to start off the new year for California Baptist. Last year the Lancers opened 2008 with a win at Fresno Pacific.
CBU will stay on the road as it travels to Westmont, Tuesday, for a 5:30 p.m. Golden State Athletic Conference game before returning home Saturday to take on Concordia.
