California Baptist University
20-2,11-0PacWest
Fresno Pacific
4-15,1-10PacWest
CBU Rebounds, Passes Way to Victory
1/23/2017 8:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball
FRESNO, Calif. – Ball movement and rebounding fed into California Baptist University's 17th-straight win on the road at Fresno Pacific, 83-55, on Monday night.
The 10th-ranked Lancers improved their first-place standing in the PacWest, with a 20-2 overall and 11-0 conference record. CBU notched the win, thanks to a 44-29 edge in rebounds and had 23 assists on 30 field goals. The Sunbirds fall to 4-15, 1-10 on the year.
CBU returns home, where it has won 29-straight games in the Van Dyne Gym and will play four home games over a seven-day span. It starts with Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday at 5 p.m. Three of the PacWest's Hawaii schools: Hawaii-Hilo, Hawai'i Pacific and BYU-Hawaii will visit the Van Dyne Gym over the next week.
All 11 CBU players who appeared scored in the game. Cassidy Mihalko, Courtney Nelson and Lexy Ram all scored in double digits – led by Mihalko's 16, Nelson's 13 and Ram's 10. Nelson was one of three Lancers, along with Emma Meriggioli and Erin Asher, to log five assists. Olivia Weber nearly completed a double-double, with a team-high 12 rebounds, eight points and three blocks.
CBU got out to a quick start Monday and went up 15-5 just three and a half minutes into the game. Mihalko scored eight of those points, while Tori Mitchell (eight points, four rebounds) chipped in two layups of her own.
Fresno Pacific battled back to cut the lead down to just one, 24-23, with 6:06 left in the second quarter. Momentum shifted just 10 seconds later, however, when Erin Asher laid the ball up and in to jumpstart a 17-0 run for the Lancers.
CBU's bench scored all 17 points in that run, with five from Asher, four from Weber, three each from Kristine Sellona and Emily Schmidt and two from Ram. It gave the Lancers an 18-point cushion, 41-23, with 1:27 to go in the half.
It was a game-changer, as FPU could not regain any momentum out of halftime. The Lancers pushed their lead all the way out to 33, 62-29, with an 18-3 run to begin the second half. Kamille Diaz, Mihalko and Meriggioli each logged two field goals in that span.
The Sunbirds were unable to make much headway, only cutting the deficit as low as 24 the rest of the night to give CBU the 83-55 victory.
