California Baptist University
Azusa Pacific
GSAC TOURNAMENT CHAMPS!
3/8/2011 5:58:00 AM | Women's Basketball
AZUSA, Calif. --- Picked to finish eighth in the GSAC and on no one's radar for the NAIA National Tournament (let alone a No. 1-seed) to start the season, the No. 5-ranked California Baptist University Lancers went to Azusa, Calif. Monday night and won the biggest game to date in program history.
The Lancers defeated No. 3 and top-seeded Azusa Pacific, 79-76, in the championship game of the GSAC tournament.
It was the Lancers first ever conference tournament championship in its first ever appearance in the title game. The win just adds to a season in which the Lancers had their first 20-win campaign since 1990, set a program-record with 16 conference wins and locked up their first birth in the NAIA National Tournament since 1982. The victory also gives the Lancers a legitimate shot at a No. 1 seed in the national tournament field.
“I couldn't be any more proud of our staff, this administration and our players,” said Head Coach John Marcum. “This is a team full of survivors and we survived once again tonight. One of the biggest things in this game for us was that a lot of different people stepped up at different times when we needed them.”
CBU went into the Felix Event Center on the Azusa Pacific campus and looked in position to blow the home team away at one point, but what seemed to be an easy win turned into a dog fight late.
Facing a 13-point deficit with less than 10 minutes to play, the Cougars put on a full court press that gave the home team an eight-point run in the span of 41 seconds to pull to within 60-55. APU forced two turnovers and hit two threes during the run.
Out of a CBU timeout, the Cougars again forced a turnover at midcourt and got a foul on the breakaway, giving APU two free throws. Another Lancer turnover led to a Cougar layup and a tie ball game. Brenna Hahn, who at the time was leading the Lancers with 22 points, fouled out on the sequence.
Michelle Byrd hit a 3-pointer at the 5:36 mark and for the first time in nearly 274 minutes the Lancers trailed by one. V.V. Vasciunaite wasted no time putting CBU back on top, however, hitting a three of her own just 24 seconds later.
With Hahn out of the game, Vasciunaite stepped to the plate and nailed another long ball to give the Lancers a 70-65 lead. She would score eight of the Lancers' final 15 points.
Give-aways again plagued the Lancers as they turned the ball over under the Cougar basket. APU kicked it out to Briana Hall who hit a 3-pointer, closing the gap to two.
With less than a minute remaining Renetha Burton matched an APU layup and hit one free throw to give CBU a 77-74 advantage.
As the seconds ticked down to 20, Eboni Sadler was fouled on a 3-pointer, but hit just 2 of 3 free throws to make the score 77-76.
Again facing the full court press and a clock that could not expire rapidly enough, S.J. Simmons dribbled trough a double team and into the open court. With a two-on-one advantage, CBU could not hit the layup, but got the rebound and called a timeout with 8.3 seconds remaining.
Out of the timeout Dana Olsen ran out from her position in the post on the inbounds, received the pass and drew a quick foul. A 74.6 percent foul shooter on the season, Olsen hit her two biggest of the year, nailing both at the line to give the Lancers the three-point edge. A last desperation 3-pointer fell woefully short for the Cougars and the team picked to finish eighth in the conference had sealed its first ever GSAC Tournament Championship.
The win ends a 17-game winning streak for APU, who had not lost since the Lancers beat them during the teams' first meeting of the regular season on Jan. 4.
“We talked about it at halftime, that the team that could respond to adversity would win,” said Marcum. “We knew they would make a run at us and they did. When your best player on the night fouls out and you don't get down or discouraged, it says something and that's exactly what this team did.”
To open the game CBU used its now trademark defensive intensity to stay ahead for the entire opening period.
With three minutes left in the first half a pair of fast break baskets pulled APU to within one at 29-28. The Lancers came right back, however, with fast break layups off turnovers by Simmons and Burton to go back up 33-28.
CBU held its largest lead of the half going into the break up 37-28. APU did not score in the last 3:11 of the first period
The opening half featured 3 ties, but CBU never trailed as the team extended its streak of not playing from behind to 260 minutes.
The last tie of the half came at the 11:17 mark, when APU's Kristie Hala' Ufia hit 1 of 2 free throws. The Lancers quickly responded with six-straight points getting a layup in traffic from Simmons, two free throws from Hahn and another layup by Burton within a two minute stretch.
CBU hit 8-of-8 foul shots to open the game.
The Lancers' defense stifled the Cougar attack, causing the home team to shoot just 31.3 percent in the first half.
CBU had the opportunity to pull away by an even greater margin in the opening half, but the Lancers hit just 3 of 10 3-pointers and gave up 11 points off turnovers. CBU did out-shoot APU from the floor, hitting 44.8 percent of its field goals. The Lancers also held an 18-10 points in the paint adavantage.
The Lancers held their first double-digit advantage of the contest two minutes into the second half on a layup by Hahn. Hahn was aggressive taking the ball into the paint, scoring six of CBU's first eight points in the second half on layups or from the line after getting fouled in the paint.
APU cut the Lancer lead to eight with 14:03 to play, but it was Hahn who keyed a six-point run with a pair of threes to push CBU's advantage to 54-39 and force an APU timeout.
The Lancers shot 49.2 percent from the field in the game to 38.8 percent for the Cougars. CBU also held a 41-32 advantage on the boards and shot 87.5 percent from the foul line going 14-for-16.
Hahn's 22 points remained a game-high through the finale and Burton added 19 points and nine rebounds in one of her best outings of the season. All five starters scored in double figures for the Lancers.
Eboni Sadler led APU with 20 points on the night. Michelle Byrd, who burned the Lancers last time the two teams met, added 17 points and matched Burton's game-high nine rebounds.
“Before the game I realized that this was my last game in California and I wanted to make it one to remember,” said the senior guard Hahn. “Obviously it feels good to win this one and head into nationals. It has been a long four years and this is a great way for it to come to an end. This team has really come together this season.”
The win moves the Lancers to 26-7 and drops the Cougars to 28-5. The national tournament field will be announced this Wednesday at 4 p.m. on victorysportsnetwork.com.
