California Baptist University
33-2
Western Washington
26-6
CBU Tastes Sweet 16 Again
3/11/2017 10:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - After a thrilling overtime win against Point Loma the night before, third-ranked California Baptist University returned to the Alaska Airlines Center to face the third-seeded Western Washington Vikings for what would be the first-ever meeting between the schools.
CBU defeated the Vikings in an 80-68 win to secure a berth to the NCAA Division II West Regional championship game, which will take place Monday at 8 p.m. PDT. The second-seeded Lancers improve to 33-2 and WWU ends its season at 26-6.
"We are really just happy to keep playing." Coach Jarrod Olson said. "If the games need to be close, we'll just play them close. At this time of year, it's kind of just about surviving and moving forward."
CBU will face fifth-seeded Simon Fraser (26-7) after the Clan upset top-seeded, second-ranked host Alaska Anchorage 80-70 on Saturday. It is the second time in three years CBU has advanced to the West Region championship round, with the Lancers hoping to win it for the second time, as well. The West Region winner of that game will advance to the Division II Elite Eight in Columbus, Ohio, which goes from March 21-24.
Veteran leadership continued to be key to CBU's success on Saturday. Courtney Nelson led the way among the Lancers' talented trio of senior guards and finished with a team-high 22 points, five rebounds and four assists. Kamille Diaz provided 13 points, eight assists and three rebounds, while Cassidy Mihalko rounded out that group with eight points and six boards.
"I had a bigger post on me most of the night, so I was able to use my speed against them," Nelson said. "I used that to my advantage even though that team is really tough, they're really good. We do a good job moving the ball, whatever is open, that's what we take."
Not to be outdone, Tori Mitchell was a force in the paint and completed a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. The junior center was backed up by the strong post presence of senior forward Olivia Weber, who chipped in eight rebounds and seven points.
"We work really hard on having a solid defense because that's what gets the ball rolling for us on offense," Nelson said. "We don't look for one player, we spread the floor, and it's hard to guard all of our players because everyone's a threat."
Mitchell got the ball rolling for the Lancers by draining a deuce on a pass from Nelson to open the first quarter. It was clear that WWU came ready to play and the Vikings took an early 14-6 lead with 4:28 left in the frame.
It was not until Mihalko was fouled on a three-point attempt at the 2:44 mark that CBU got momentum going in their favor. Mihalko sank all three free throws to pull the Lancers within two, 16-14.
The Vikings responded with a 6-2 run of their own and further distanced themselves from the Lancers, up 22-16 with a minute and a half remaining. WWU closed out strong and ended the quarter with a three-pointer to take a 25-19 lead going into the second.
CBU turned things around in the second quarter, as it outscored the Vikings 26-11 and kept them to a 25-percent shooting from the floor.
"WWU is a really good team, they just have two amazing players in [Tia] Briggs and [Taylor] Peacock, who played really well tonight," Olson said. "It took everything we had to make those players work a little bit harder to score. I just think our ball movement and sharing the ball really made a difference in the game."
Things did not start easy for the Lancers in the second quarter, though, taking them until the 5:47 mark to gain a lead. Sophomore guard Emma Meriggioli provided the much-needed spark for CBU when she drained a three-pointer to instigate a major-momentum shift, with her team now leading 32-30.
Stellar Lancer defense forced a WWU shot-clock violation at the 2:50 mark to continue the push. Erin Asher followed that up with a three and a Weber block with 30 seconds left in the first half kept the ball rolling in CBU's favor. True freshman Lexy Ram swished two free throws to make CBU a perfect 14-for-14 from the charity stripe in the first half and sent it into the break with a 45-36 lead.
CBU opened the third with a beautiful drive-and-dish from Meriggioli to Mitchell, who laid it in to keep things going for the Lancers, up 49-41. The Vikings continued to rally, however, and outscored CBU 19-15 in the third to come within five, 60-55, before going into the final 10 minutes.
A solid post move from Mitchell off a Diaz bounce pass allowed CBU to open the fourth quarter with a bang, but it was clear the Vikings would do whatever it could to keep their season alive. WWU kept the Lancers from scoring for over two and a half minutes to come within four, 70-66, with 4:20 left as desperation kicked in.
CBU refused to give in, however, and the Lancers' offense exploded with only two minutes left on the clock. Diaz drove to the hoop and dished to Mitchell, who sank a contested layup and extended the Lancers' lead to 78-68. The Vikings desperately began fouling, but it was not enough to catch the Lancers, who finished the game off of a wide-open Mihalko layup to seal the 80-68 win.
