California Baptist University
Montana Western
VEGAS SWEEPSTAKES
12/31/2011 1:13:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Lancers had four players score in double figures on the night, and made some much needed improvements to their free throw shooting after last night's nail biter, hitting 23-of-31 foul shots. The win runs the team's record to 8-1 with an eighth consecutive victory.
"The girls knew it was necessary for us to make improvements at the free throw line and I was happy with us hitting 74 percent there," said Head Coach John Marcum. "It shows a great team effort when you have four people in double figures and have 14 assists in the game. I thought we executed well in our half-court offense and had really good production off the bench, which were all keys to the victory."
Amy Browne and Myriah Hicks led the way for CBU with 15 points apiece, and Alexis Johnson and Brittney Lewis each scored 12. It was the first time this season Browne has led CBU in scoring and the fourth time in the last five contests that Hicks has done so.
CBU held just a four point lead going into the break, but kept building on its advantage in the second half, outscoring the Bulldogs 44-39. The Lancers actually shot worse from the field in the second half, but hit 18-of-24 foul shots to seal the win.
For the third straight game the Lancer bench scored more than 30 points, adding 31 points. CBU held the advantage in both second chance points, 16-12, and points in the paint, 36-26.
"I thought our play inside the post was exceptional as well," said Marcum. "That has been a key for us both offensively and defensively this trip."
The Lancers held the Montana Western to just 36 percent shooting in the game, below their season average of 41.6 percent.
CBU hit 5-of-15 three pointers, three of which came from Browne en route to her season high scoring day. The Bulldogs hit one more three on six more attempts than the Lancers.
Montana Western was led by Sammi Bignell, who shot 6-of-16 from the floor for 13 points. Bignell also grabbed nine rebounds.
"We're looking forward to getting into the conference season now," said Marcum. "We talked about it being a brand new season from here on out and that's what we've been working towards in this early part of the year. This team has been very unselfish thus far and if we can continue to play that way, with no one worrying about who gets the credit, we can go far."
The Lancers, who have one conference win under their belt already, head up to the Bay Area next week for games against Notre Dame de Namur (Jan. 3), Academy of Art (Jan. 5) and Dominican (Jan. 7).
