RIVERSIDE, Calif. – After more than two weeks away, California Baptist University began game one of a six-game home stand on Thursday. The Lancers hosted Concordia University of Irvine and looked to force a season split with the fourth-place team in the PacWest standings.

Three Lancers scored in double figures -- led by a career-high 25 points from Georgia Dale on 9-for-12 shooting, including 3-6 from three – in a 75-65 victory over the Eagles. Tori Mitchell shot at a high percentage, as well, with 18 points (8-12) and eight rebounds, while Ane Olaeta came alive late to finish with 13 points.

"Georgia played great, she has a really strong will to win and a real toughness about her," Coach Jarrod Olson said. "She has a way of willing things to happen and she really got us going in the first quarter and was strong down stretch. I was really proud of her on defense tonight, we wouldn't have won without her, that's for sure."

CBU forced 18 turnovers and enjoyed a 22-10 advantage in points off turnovers as a result. Dale matched her career-high of five steals, while Emma Meriggioli had a team-high five assists, six points and three big rebounds.

"It was a great win, everyone put in their two cents to make it happen," Dale said. "It was all about poise, we all kept together and handled the pressure really well. We wanted it and therefore we got it."

It moved the Lancers to 9-11, 6-6 in the PacWest and the Eagles drop to 10-9, 7-6. After opening the day 10^th in the conference standings, CBU hopes to build on Thursday's win and secure a top-six spot and PacWest Tournament berth.

The Lancers have a favorable schedule the rest of the way, with six of their final eight games coming against teams without winning records in the PacWest. The Lancers play again Saturday and Monday when Notre Dame de Namur and Academy of Art, respectively, visit for 5 p.m. tips.

"It's nice to get a bunch of games in a row at home, hopefully we can build some momentum," Olson said, "hopefully the good play continues."
 
CBU led for the most of the game, but the Eagles managed to tie the game at 63-63 with 4:40 left in regulation. A big offensive rebound and put-back from Mitchell put the Lancers back in front, but a CUI jumper tied things again at 65.

Consecutive layups from Dale and Mitchell gave the Lancers a precious multi-possession lead, 69-65, with 2:27 to play. The Eagles could not crack CBU's defense and while attempting a full-court press surrendered a three-pointer to Lexy Ram to effectively put the game out of reach after the Lancers hit their free throws.

"It felt good to play well the whole game, we were able to push through the whole game," Ram said. "This should build a lot of confidence, I think it keeps us fighting and keeps our momentum going, that's going to be key right now."

Despite the final result, it was Concordia who came out and took an early 11-2 lead in the game. The Lancers finished the first quarter on an 8-0 deficit. Dale scored half of CBU's 10 first-quarter points, as she cashed in a layup off an inbounds play and then nailed a step-back three-pointer at the buzzer to make it 11-10 at the end of the first.

It sparked a hot streak for Dale that carried over into the second quarter and gave way to a 20-7 Lancer run. Fifteen seconds in, Dale stole the ball near half court and then laid it up and in on the other end to give CBU its first lead since the opening field goal.

Dale came up with three steals in the second quarter alone, as she finished the first half with 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting, including 2-4 from three. It helped the Lancers lead by as many as nine, 32-23, before CUI whittled its deficit down to 34-28 by intermission.
 
"Sometimes I have a problem where I start out flat, so I decided to focus on my defense and that's when I got my run, I got some easy steals and that's when things started happening," Dale said.

A pair of layups from Mitchell and another Dale three helped the Lancers extend their lead to a game-high 11, 41-30, less than two minutes into the second half. It ignited a sense of urgency within the Eagles and they pushed all the way back within three, 45-42. Olaeta extinguished the Eagles' momentum with a three-pointer coming off an extra pass from Emily Schmidt. It jump started a 12-4 charge from the Lancers, with Olaeta scoring eight of those points to help keep her team in front 57-52 going into the fourth quarter.