Monday, February 5
Riverside, Calif.
5:00 PM
California Baptist University
11-11, 8-6PacWest
92
vs
62
Academy of Art
6-18, 5-11PacWest
1
2
3
4
F
Academy of Art
19
20
4
19
62
California Baptist
24
20
28
20
92
Photo by: Conner Schuh
CBU Wins With Big Third Quarter
2/5/2018 8:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Halfway through California Baptist University's third game in five days, there appeared to be little separating the Lancers and Academy of Art on Monday.
The third quarter provided the sizable divide CBU was looking for, as it out scored the Urban Knights by 24 points over those 10 minutes to secure a 92-62 victory in the CBU Events Center.
"At halftime we refocused, came out with a really good energy on defense and put our minds to it," Coach Jarrod Olson said. "We were really determined to get some stops, and clearly the third quarter was the difference in the game. I was really proud of that effort we came out with in the second half."
While the Lancers started a little slow, Blaysen Varnadoe was a constant from the first half through the second for CBU. She put together a career night with a season-high 26 points on 10-for-17 shooting and also came down with 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
"They were playing a 2-3 zone and Blaysen is really good at the high post," Olson said. "She made a lot of nice plays and her defense was really good, too. It was nice to see her breakout, she's a really talented player and she's had some games like that for us this year, hopefully this gives her some confidence she can build on for us."
With their third win a row, the Lancers improve to 11-11, 8-6 in the PacWest and into a tie for fourth place with Concordia University of Irvine. Academy of Art drops to 6-18, 5-11 after playing shorthanded on Monday.
After sitting in 10th place in the conference standings last week, CBU has flipped the script and put itself in position to qualify for the PacWest Tournament, which will include the top-six teams in the conference on March 1-3 at the CBU Events Center. The Lancers' quest for a playoff spot continues on Saturday when they host Biola for a unique 4 p.m. tip off.
"We stress working hard every single day. We are on a good roll and we have to keep playing it game by game and working hard in practice," Varnadoe said. "We are hoping to make it to the PacWest Tournament."
Monday marked the second game in a row five Lancers scored in double figures. CBU shot 53.5 percent from the field (38-for-71), 40.9 percent from three (9-22) and moved the ball well with 22 assists on 38 field goals.
Emma Meriggioli may have been thinking triple double, as she put together one of the most complete performances of her career. The junior scored 10 points, secured eight rebounds, dished out seven assists and had two steals and a block in the win.
For the third game in a row and fifth time over the last six games, Georgia Dale scored in double figures, with 15 overall, along with five assists, five rebounds and two steals for CBU. Tori Mitchell scored 13 points, pulled down seven rebounds and dished out three assists, while Lexy Ram shot 5-of-6 to finish with 12 points.
Whatever was said at halftime fueled the Lancers' defense in the third, which just so happened to feed into their offense. CBU came out aggressive and forced seven turnovers, which led to 13 easy points for the home team, and helped them post a 28-4 advantage in the third quarter.
"We knew we started off a little slow; ultimately it was just refocusing and getting each other pumped up," Meriggioli said of the halftime emphasis in the locker room. "We knew the third quarter would decide the rest of the game."
Academy of Art answered back a Mitchell layup in the first minute of the third quarter, but the Lancers launched into a 19-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 22-point lead, 63-41, halfway through the frame. The Urban Knights turned the ball over three times in that span. Mitchell scored six of her team's first 19 points while Dale came up with four points, two assists and two steals in the run.
ART U would cut into the run momentarily with a layup, but the Lancers closed the final 2:33 of the quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 72-43 lead into the fourth quarter.
Varnadoe's postgame thoughts (check out CBU Lancers on Facebook to hear more from Meriggioli and Olson):
The third quarter provided the sizable divide CBU was looking for, as it out scored the Urban Knights by 24 points over those 10 minutes to secure a 92-62 victory in the CBU Events Center.
"At halftime we refocused, came out with a really good energy on defense and put our minds to it," Coach Jarrod Olson said. "We were really determined to get some stops, and clearly the third quarter was the difference in the game. I was really proud of that effort we came out with in the second half."
While the Lancers started a little slow, Blaysen Varnadoe was a constant from the first half through the second for CBU. She put together a career night with a season-high 26 points on 10-for-17 shooting and also came down with 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
"They were playing a 2-3 zone and Blaysen is really good at the high post," Olson said. "She made a lot of nice plays and her defense was really good, too. It was nice to see her breakout, she's a really talented player and she's had some games like that for us this year, hopefully this gives her some confidence she can build on for us."
With their third win a row, the Lancers improve to 11-11, 8-6 in the PacWest and into a tie for fourth place with Concordia University of Irvine. Academy of Art drops to 6-18, 5-11 after playing shorthanded on Monday.
After sitting in 10th place in the conference standings last week, CBU has flipped the script and put itself in position to qualify for the PacWest Tournament, which will include the top-six teams in the conference on March 1-3 at the CBU Events Center. The Lancers' quest for a playoff spot continues on Saturday when they host Biola for a unique 4 p.m. tip off.
"We stress working hard every single day. We are on a good roll and we have to keep playing it game by game and working hard in practice," Varnadoe said. "We are hoping to make it to the PacWest Tournament."
Monday marked the second game in a row five Lancers scored in double figures. CBU shot 53.5 percent from the field (38-for-71), 40.9 percent from three (9-22) and moved the ball well with 22 assists on 38 field goals.
Emma Meriggioli may have been thinking triple double, as she put together one of the most complete performances of her career. The junior scored 10 points, secured eight rebounds, dished out seven assists and had two steals and a block in the win.
For the third game in a row and fifth time over the last six games, Georgia Dale scored in double figures, with 15 overall, along with five assists, five rebounds and two steals for CBU. Tori Mitchell scored 13 points, pulled down seven rebounds and dished out three assists, while Lexy Ram shot 5-of-6 to finish with 12 points.
Whatever was said at halftime fueled the Lancers' defense in the third, which just so happened to feed into their offense. CBU came out aggressive and forced seven turnovers, which led to 13 easy points for the home team, and helped them post a 28-4 advantage in the third quarter.
"We knew we started off a little slow; ultimately it was just refocusing and getting each other pumped up," Meriggioli said of the halftime emphasis in the locker room. "We knew the third quarter would decide the rest of the game."
Academy of Art answered back a Mitchell layup in the first minute of the third quarter, but the Lancers launched into a 19-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 22-point lead, 63-41, halfway through the frame. The Urban Knights turned the ball over three times in that span. Mitchell scored six of her team's first 19 points while Dale came up with four points, two assists and two steals in the run.
ART U would cut into the run momentarily with a layup, but the Lancers closed the final 2:33 of the quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 72-43 lead into the fourth quarter.
Varnadoe's postgame thoughts (check out CBU Lancers on Facebook to hear more from Meriggioli and Olson):
Team Stats
ART U
CBU
FG%
.275
.535
3FG%
.333
.409
FT%
.750
.778
RB
41
52
TO
15
20
STL
11
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
26
FGM
10
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballF
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