Indiana Bound
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- California Baptist University punched its ticket to the NCCAA National Tournament Thursday with a 64-53 victory over Azusa Pacific in the West Regional Final.
It was the second victory in a week and third overall this season over APU for the Lancers, who locked up the PacWest title this past Saturday.
The Lancers got 20 points out of NCCAA West Region Player of the Year Simone Holmes and Myriah Hicks scored eight of the team's final 11 points to help seal the victory.
"This team is competing at a very high level right now," said CBU Head Coach Jarrod Olson. "The girls are doing a great job being coachable and putting what we say into practice right now, but they're even going beyond that. They're thinking for themselves on the court and that's what you want as a coach. We've become a team instead of just a collection of talented players."
After going up by as much as 10 in the second half, the Lancer lead was cut to three on a pair of Cougar free throws with 4:47 to play. Hicks responded with two foul shots of her own, however, pushing it back to a 55-50 advantage just 19 seconds later.
Holmes then picked the pocket of APU's Tianna Jones and after working the shot clock to the final second, Hicks cut down the center of the paint and hit a layup to put CBU up seven. Another Jones turnover led to a Lesley Vodicska three, giving the Lancers their 10-point advantage back, 60-50.
Four Hicks free throws were all CBU needed to seal the deal over the final 2:30.
The Lancers held APU to 23.8 percent shooting in the second half, as the Cougars scored just five baskets in the final 20 minutes of play.
"When we're playing like this and trusting each other, there aren't too many teams that can beat us," said Holmes. "This was a great game tonight, every time we've played them has been tough. We're happy to get the win and be able to go back to Indiana and redeem ourselves."
The Cougars came out firing from the start in the second half, evening the score at 34-34 with two of their five field goals, but Holmes led an 11-1 charge for CBU, putting the Lancers up 45-35.
Holmes knocked down a pair of threes during the run and finished it off with a steal and a layup to give the Lancers a double-digit advantage for the first time on the night at the 13:11 mark.
In a tightly contested opening half, CBU entered the break with a 34-30 lead thanks to a buzzer beating three from Amy Browne.
CBU shot 43.1 percent in the game and hit 7 of 13 3-pointers (53.8 percent). It's the second straight game the Lancers have shot at least 50 percent from long distance against the Cougars.
The win moves the Lancers to 23-5 on the year, continuing the team's 13-game win streak. CBU's 23 wins is the sixth highest total in program history. APU ends its season at 16-11.
"Our coaching staff has done a great job setting goals for us and getting us ready all year," said Hicks. "Making the national tournament was definitely one of them and we're all excited to be heading back there."
Brackets for the NCCAA Tournament will be released this weekend with play opening up on March 13.
