California Baptist University
15-11, 12-6
Fresno Pacific
11-15, 9-9
Lancers Clinch PacWest Berth
2/17/2018 4:53:00 PM | Women's Basketball
FRESNO, Calif. – Coming into Saturday's game, California Baptist University was deadlocked in a three-way tie for third place in the PacWest standings. The Lancers knew a win on the road at Fresno Pacific would secure them a conference tournament berth, while a loss would greatly hinder their postseason chances.
Superior defense, rebounding and a balanced offense led CBU to an 85-68 win over the Sunbirds on Saturday afternoon. The Lancers have now won seven straight to improve to 15-11, 12-6 in the PacWest, while Fresno Pacific drops to 11-15, 9-9.
With the rest of the third-place PacWest teams inactive, CBU took over sole possession of the No. 3 spot in the conference and secured a berth to the conference tournament. The Lancers face Dominican (17-8, 11-6) on the road Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in a battle for tournament seeding.
The Lancers had four players finish in double-digits on Saturday. Emma Meriggioli led CBU with a career-high 20 points on 70 percent shooting (7-for-10, 5-8 from three), five rebounds, three assists and a block. True freshman Ane Olaeta added 18 points on 50 percent shooting (7-14) from the field, along with five assists.
Dominating the glass, Blaysen Varnadoe and Tori Mitchell combined for 29 of CBU's 54 total rebounds. Both players recorded double-doubles as Varnadoe tallied 13 points and 17 rebounds, while Mitchell added 10 points and 12 rebounds in just 12 minutes.
Varnadoe became the third Lancer to pull down 17 rebounds in a single game in the NCAA era (2013-14 to 2017-18). Those 17 rebounds tied for the eighth most in a game during that span.
Ball movement helped balance CBU's offense, as 22 of its 31 of its field goals came on assists. It was a full-team effort on defense, as the Lancers held FPU 31.1 percent from the field (23-74) and 20.8 from three (5-24).
Despite the near 20-point win, things were close through the first 10 minutes between CBU and FPU. There were two ties and the Lancers were not able to increase their lead by more than five points in the first quarter.
Thanks to a second-quarter surge where CBU outscored the Sunbirds 27-13, the Lancers were able to pull away. Mitchell got things rolling early for the Lancers in the second quarter when she scored the first basket that gave CBU a slight 17-15 lead with 9:33 to play.
Already in rhythm, Meriggioli drained a three to cap a 13-4 run for the Lancers and give them a 30-19 lead with 5:22 left in the half. Another 14-9 run came to a close off a Varnadoe three-pointer to make it 44-30.
The second half was no different for CBU, as the Lancers had an urgency to put the game away early. Mitchell started that process with a layup, followed by two made free throws from Georgia Dale, who had nine points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals, to increase the Sunbirds' deficit to 53-21 at the 6:17 mark of the third quarter.
In the final quarter of play, the Sunbirds tried to cut into their deficit, but a layup from Emily Schmidt, followed by a Meriggioli free-throw and a Varnadoe bucket pushed the Lancers lead back to 74-55 with 5:37 to play.
W??| @cbuWBB defeats @fpusunbirds 85-68, behind 13 points, 17 rebounds from Blaysen Varnadoe, becoming the third Lancer to pull down 17 rebounds in a single game in NCAA era (2013-14 to 2017-18), with that total tied for 8th most in that span.
— CBU Lancers (@cbulancers) February 18, 2018
BOX SCORE:https://t.co/2nNJjBw0yu pic.twitter.com/ovC8X3pxWQ
