THANKSGIVING EAGLE
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- With most people at home preparing for tomorrow's Thanksgiving spreads, California Baptist University decided to feast early with a 29-point blowout victory over La Sierra.
The Lancers traveled just down the road for their third game of the season and came away 81-52 winners, posting their highest scoring output of the young season.
After averaging 4.5 points per game in the first two contests of the season, Brittney Lewis came off the bench Wednesday and had a breakout performance, leading CBU with 18 points in 21 minutes.
"Brittney's an exciting, athletic player and we knew she had this kind of potential when we brought her in," said Head Coach John Marcum. "She had a great game tonight. Coming off the bench she really gave us a spark and got things going."
The Lancers jumped all over the Golden Eagles right out of the gate, taking a commanding 42-19 lead into the half. The Lancers shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half, taking more than double the shots of the Eagles.
CBU won both the turnover battle and the battle for the offensive boards in the game, creating numerous second chance opportunities. LSU gave the ball away 10 more times than CBU, committing 32 turnovers and the Lancers grabbed 17 offensive rebounds to just seven for the Eagles.
The Lancers were also 4-for-9 from three point line in the first half.
"I'd still like to see our turnover total be lower, but the job we did on the boards made up for a lot of that," said Marcum. "We met our rebounding goal tonight and were close on the shooting percentage, so that's good."
Overall CBU shot 48.4 percent from the floor, while LSU shot 40 percent. The Eagles shot 52.6 from the foul line, with a dismal 1-for-9 performance at the charity stripe in the opening period.
For the second-straight game Alexis Johnson recorded a double-double for the Lancers, scoring 10 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds.
CBU had four players score in double figures on the night, with Myriah Hicks and Amy Browne each putting up 14 points to join Johnson and Lewis in that category. All 11 players on the CBU roster saw time in the contest.
"There were a lot of positives we can take from tonight, but we still have a lot of work to do as well," said Marcum. "Any time you can go on the road and get a win, that's a good thing, though."
The Lancers move to 2-1 on the season, while LSU falls to 1-11. The two teams meet again next week, as CBU hosts the Eagles in the team's home opener Dec. 1.
