RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Hoping to keep its hot streak going, California Baptist University took control of Thursday night's game early and never let go. The Lancers powered through to their fourth-straight 20-point win, defeating Dominican University of California 89-57.
 
CBU improves to 12-2 overall and 5-1 in the PacWest, while the Penguins drop to an even 6-6 and 3-3 in conference.
 
As a team, CBU shot an impressive 52.1-percent, while Cassidy Mihalko was just shy of tying her career-best 24 points, finishing the night with 23 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field and 3-for-6 from the perimeter.

Courtney Nelson and Darsha Burnside also came up big for the Lancers, each posting double-doubles on the night. Nelson paired 12 points (6-for-11) with 10 rebounds and Burnside added 10 points (5-for-10) with 11 boards.

"We did a really nice job of sharing the ball tonight," said head coach Jarrod Olson. "Cass got us going early, but it was really a balanced effort on offense. Defensively we were solid and did a good job defending a team with some very good scorers."
 
The Lancers scored the first points of the night and never let the Penguins take over that lead, building up a double-digit lead within the first five minutes of the game at 18-8.
 
Dominican managed to battled back within two possessions at 23-18, but the Lancers went on a 21-4 run to take a commanding 44-22 lead. Chanel Cambronero initiated the run with a high-arcing shot from three and two Mihalko free throws capped the spurt.
 
CBU held on for a 53-31 cushion at halftime and kept things rolling in the second frame. CBU came out of the break on a 10-2 run to extend its margin to 30 points.
 
The Penguins tried to cut into the home team's lead at 81-53 but the 28-point margin would be the closest they would get as Elyse Snyder responded with a bucket and Cambronero found nothing but net to put CBU back into the 30-point range.
 
Madeleine White put an exclamation point on the night, rattling in a three from the corner to seal the victory at 89-57.
 
CBU hits the court once more this week, hosting Academy of Art on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. The Lancers will look to keep their hot streak going and avenge an earlier 76-68 loss—their only conference loss of the season.