California Baptist University
Fresno Pacific
IN THE NIK OF TIME
1/3/2010 5:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Johnson went 5-for-7 from the field and did not miss any of her three attempts from 3-point range and scored 10 points in the second half. The senior guard was just one of five Lancers (9-4, 2-1 GSAC) who scored in double figures.
"Nikki has always been a great defender," said CBU head coach Danelle Bishop. "She is stepping into a great role for us. She was able to score tonight because she took advantage of some holes in the defense she saw. Nikki knows that she doesn't have to be the main scorer. She's been putting in the extra work and that has given her confidence."
Megan Bradford scored a team-high 16 points and added five steals to go with three assists and three rebounds. Brenna Hahn added 15 points and three steals while Kendra Morris and Heather Couzens each had 11.
For the second straight game, CBU shot over 50 percent from the field, going 32-for-63. The Lancers also hit 20-of-25 from the charity stripe. The Lancers did most of their damage in the paint outscoring the Sunbirds 42-24 in the lane. CBU averaged a point for every turnover forced, scoring 26 points on 26 FPU turnovers. The Lancer bench also dropped 31 points compared to 17 from Fresno Pacific's reserves.
The Sunbirds led just once the entire game and that was at 4-2 with 17:50 left in the first half. Bradford then sparked an 11-2 run to take a 13-6 lead. FPU scored five straight to cut it to 13-11, but Bradford hit a pair of free throws, notched a steal and then hit a lay up to get CBU rolling. Johnson then capped off a 21-4 run with her first three of the game, to put CBU up 34-15.
The Lancers matched their biggest lead of the half at 38-19 with 1:45 left in the half before leading 42-25 at the break.
It was all CBU in the second half as well as the Lancers increased their lead with each tick of the clock. It was the largest win in conference this year and the fifth straight win over FPU. The win also increased CBU's win streak to four-in-a-row.
"We always talked about execution and running what we ask," said Bishop. "I think we got away from that early in the season. That's been a huge focus for us in the last few weeks. We just are playing well right now as a team. The chemistry is good and that's huge for us at this point in the season."
The Lancers will now host No. 14 Westmont, Tuesday, at 5:30 p.m.
