California Baptist University
Saint Martin's
Saints Keep Marching On
11/23/2013 4:20:00 AM | Women's Basketball
LACEY, Wash. --- In a non-conference matchup, California Baptist University fell 64-55 to Saint Martin's Friday night. The Lancers couldn't overcome a 10-point hole they found themselves in at halftime, despite outscoring the Saints in the second half.
With the loss, CBU drops to 2-2 on the season, while SMU improves to 2-1 with the victory.
Elise Shelton and Kamille Diaz led the offense for the Lancers, each finishing with 15 points on the night. Shelton added 11 rebounds to record her first double-double on the season. Chanel Cambronero also registered double-digit points, racking up 10 points in the defeat.
Neither team could find its rhythm early in the game until SMU scored the first basket of the contest with a three-pointer three minutes in.
The Lancers struggled to keep the Saints off the board in the first half and found themselves trailing by 13 with four minutes before halftime. CBU finished the half with a 4-1 run to enter the break with the score at 32-22 in favor of SMU.
Determined to turn things around, CBU turned on full court pressure in the second half to cut into the Saints' lead.
Down by seven at 44-37, the Lancers went on a 4-1 run to put the game within two possessions at 45-41. Diaz opened the drive by finding Olivia Weber with a pass through traffic and Shelton finished a shot off the glass under pressure to put CBU within four at 45-41 with just over 10 minutes left to play.
The Lancers continued to battle back into the game and put the score within one possession at 47-44—the closest of the half. SMU responded with a layup to take back its double possession lead and continued on a 10-2 run to extend the lead back into double digits at 57-46 with six minutes left in the game.
Coming down the stretch, shots didn't seem to fall for the Lancers as SMU built up to a 14-point lead at 61-47 with 2:09 left to play.
CBU managed to cut the lead into single digits with 17.4 seconds left, off two Cassidy Mihalko layups created off turnover situations, but the Lancers ran out of time as they fell 64-55.
Continuing life on the road, CBU heads to the Northwest Nazarene Tournament next weekend. The Lancers first take on Central Washington on Friday, Nov. 29, at 3 p.m., before challenging host school NNU on Saturday, Nov. 30, at 1 p.m.
