Saved By The Second Half
LAIE, Hawaii --- California Baptist University got big nights from
Myriah Hicks and
Simone Holmes to power past a poor shooting first half and grab a 71-59 win at BYU-Hawaii Thursday night.
Hicks scored 20 points and Holmes added 17 as the Lancers came back from a three-point first half deficit.
The win helps the Lancers keep pace with four other two loss teams atop the conference standings. CBU is now 15-3 overall, 8-2 in the PacWest.
"Myriah was her usual self tonight and it was good to see Simone active on the boards and scoring," said Head Coach John Marcum. "That was one of the better games she has had lately and it helped us overcome some obstacles."
The Lancers shot just 23.1 percent in the opening period, falling behind 32-29 at the break.
Eight seconds into the second half, though, it was evident that Holmes and Hicks had things under control.
On the very first possession Holmes would find Hicks open behind the arc on a nice give and go pass for an open three to tie the contest up at 32-32.
After Alexis Johnson answered a Seasider basket with two points of her own, Johnson then converted a three point play to put the Lancers up 37-34. CBU would not trail the rest of the night.
Eight points from Johnson and early turnovers by the Seasiders helped the Lancers build a second half lead.
Holding a four-point advantage with 11:41 to play, Holmes knocked down a 3-pointer and then followed with a driving floater to put CBU ahead 51-42. BYUH closed to within six after that point, but never got any closer.
CBU led by double-digits for the final three minutes of the game.
"I was really glad to see us answer the challenge the way we did tonight," said Marcum. "There were a lot of chances to get distracted tonight and let things slip away, but the girls came together as a team and played through it."
Despite the poor shooting first half, and a nearly 50 percent shooting opening period for BYUH, the Lancers kept things close with 15 offensive rebounds. The Lancers took 16 more shots in the first half and scored nine second chance points. CBU totaled 24 offensive boards in the game, out-rebounding the Seasiders 45-36 overall. Jasmine Beverly led all players with 11 rebounds on the night.
"Jasmine's energy was crucial off the bench," said Marcum. "Ashley (Wirtzberger) was key for us in the first half as well. We were having a hard time scoring and she kept us going and kept us close hitting some big threes. We got great contributions off the bench."
Ashley Wirtzberger also helped keep things close early, with all of her season high 10 points in the first half. Wirtzberger was 3-of-4 from 3-point territory.
Shayla Washington led the Seasiders with 18 points in the game.
The loss drops BYUH to 3-14, 2-7.
The Lancers will finish out their four-game Hawaiian road trip against Chaminade on Saturday.
