Threes Lead CBU to Fifth-Straight Win

Tuesday, February 13

Riverside, Calif.

5:00 PM

California Baptist University

13-11, 10-6PWC

104

Hawaii-Hilo

6-13, 4-12PWC

University of Hawaii at Hilo

California Baptist

104

Photo by: Conner Schuh

Threes Lead CBU to Fifth-Straight Win

2/13/2018 7:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – With the rest of the PacWest inactive Tuesday night, California Baptist University had the opportunity to better its standing in the conference when it hosted Hawai'i Hilo.

A near-record night from beyond the arc ensured the Lancers did not waste the opportunity and extended their winning streak to five games with a 104-59 win over the Vulcans. CBU got the win by also maintaining its efficiency on offense, stellar rebounding and ball movement, which have all been keys to its current streak of victories.

CBU improved to 13-11, 10-6 in the PacWest to jump into a fourth-place tie in the conference standings again. Hawai'i Hilo drops to 6-13, 4-12 in the conference. The Lancers host their Senior Day during their final home game of the regular season against Chaminade on Thursday at 5 p.m.

"It is really tight, it certainly doesn't feel like we are in. We have to try to win every game we can," Coach Jarrod Olson said of the push for a PacWest Tournament berth. "We still have a lot of work to do, and it's coming down to five teams for four spots, so there's going to be a good team that doesn't make the tournament this year."

The Lancers hit a season-high 17 threes in the game, which is the second most in a single game in program history. CBU's all-time record is 20 three-pointers, which came in a 121-74 win at Concordia last season.

"When we get good stops on defense, it transitions to our offense. It started on defense but our ball movement helped, too," Blaysen Varnadoe of the three-point shooting Tuesday.

On the night, CBU shot 59.4 percent from the field (38-for-64), 58.6 percent from three (17-29) and 84.6 percent from the free-throw line (11-13). CBU logged 29 assists on 38 field goals and enjoyed a 51-26 advantage on the boards.

"The ball movement was really key. We are going to shoot the ball better when we are catching it instead of putting it on the floor," Olson said. "A lot of that was set up by the defense, too, we played really solid on D and we were able to push the ball and then move it around and find an open shooter."

Ane Olaeta tied her career high with 24 points in the game on 8-10 shooting, including 5-6 from three. She added 10 assists and three rebounds to complete her first career double-double.

"I was feeling good and the team played really well," Olaeta said of her big-time performance. "The ball moved a lot and spacing was good, so it led to a lot of good looks."

Lancers win!!! Ane Olaeta goes off for 24 points and 10 dimes as the Lancers eclipse the century mark in a 104-59 victory over the Vulcans of Hawaii-Hilo. #LanceUp pic.twitter.com/maNGh92U0y
— CBU Lancers (@cbulancers) February 14, 2018

Four other Lancers scored in double figures: Varnadoe (19 on 8-of-11 shooting); Lexy Ram (15 points, four rebounds, four assists); Georgie Dale (13 points, six rebounds) and Tori Mitchell (11 points and nine rebounds), while Caroline Wich (eight points) and Akayla Hackson (seven points and five assists, two blocks) both scored seven or more points.

"We are definitely playing our best basketball of the year, which is nice," Olson said. "We've had a lot of people step up and it's a different person every night, which is the sign of a good team. I am proud of how we've been playing."

Three-pointers came early and often for CBU, with four-straight helping the Lancers take a 16-8 lead on the Vulcans with 1:30 left in the first quarter. Ram knocked down two triples in that span, while Olaeta and Emma Meriggioli had one each.

UHH trimmed its deficit down to six, 18-12, but a free throw from Mitchell and three-pointer from Dale gave CBU back the momentum. The Lancers scored 10-straight points over a two-minute span to give them a 34-16 lead halfway through the second quarter.

Despite the comfortable lead, the Lancers were not content and used an 18-4 run, fueled by 10 Olaeta points, that spanned the final 3:13 of the first half and first minute of the third quarter to take a 52-28 lead.

After three-straight points from UHH, consecutive three-pointers from Ram, another triple from Olaeta and five-straight points from Varnadoe, which included a three, gave the Lancers a 30-point lead, 66-35, with 4:11 left in the third quarter.

With the game well in hand with CBU ahead 76-41 going into the fourth quarter, the Lancers made some substitutions but experienced no drop off in their bench play, which outscored the Vulcans' substitutes 36-7. CBU's bench scored seven-straight points on consecutive layups from Wich and a three from Hackson to make it a 40-plus-point lead, 83-42, with 8:32 remaining.

While the Lancers are in a good position to secure a PacWest Tournament bid, there is no opportunity to let up with four regular-season games remaining. CBU can climb all the way to third in the conference standings, which is currently occupied by Concordia (11-6) or could slip all the way out of the playoff picture if it falters.

Dominican (10-6) is tied for fourth and Point Loma (10-7) is currently sixth, while Fresno Pacific (9-8), Dixie State (7-9) and Notre Dame de Namur (7-10) are not too far off the hunt.

"It's really important, it's one of our goals and it would be so exciting to play here at CBU," Olaeta said of making the PacWest Tournament. "We want to achieve that goal."

Varnadoe's post-game thoughts (check out CBU Lancers on Facebook to hear more from Olaeta and Olson):