CBU Falls in PacWest Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 1

Riverside, Calif.

12:30 PM

California Baptist University

17-12

Dominican

18-11

Dominican University of California

California Baptist

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

CBU Falls in PacWest Quarterfinals

3/1/2018 3:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – It is no easy task to defeat an opponent three times in a single season, especially when it is the conference tournament, but that's the challenge California Baptist University faced with Dominican on Thursday.

There was little margin between the third and sixth seeded PacWest Championship teams the entire game, with 12 ties and 19 lead changes in 40 minutes. The Penguins just pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 79-72 win in the PacWest Championship quarterfinals.

It was the second meeting between the two in a week, with the Lancers' season coming to a close with a 17-12 record. It marks the seventh season in a row CBU has put together a winning season and the fourth year the Lancers have advanced to the postseason.

Despite the close loss, Coach Jarrod Olson was proud of his team's resilience and effort on Thursday.

"Today, Dominican was playing great and we were struggling, but we just kind of hung in there," Coach Jarrod Olson said. "We had chances toward the end; we weren't able to capitalize on them, but we kept fighting and that's pretty much all we can ask for. We talk a lot about effort and attitude and I thought our attitude and effort was great."

Dominican improves to 18-11 and advances to the PacWest Championship semifinals to take on second-seeded Hawaii Pacific on Friday at 12:30 p.m. It ended CBU's impressive nine-game winning streak at the end of the regular season to move it all the way to the third seed in the PacWest Tournament.

"A few weeks ago, we looked dead in the water. We sat down in the locker room and reset some goals for our team and I was just really pleased with the determination the team showed at the end of the year," Olson said. "Today wasn't the result we wanted, obviously, but today just wasn't our day -- today was Dominican's day and that happens in the tournament. … At the same time, I am really proud of the way we did finish the year."

Defensively, CBU held the Penguins to 36.7 percent shooting from the field (29-79), but they hit eight of 15 three-pointers. Big shots from role players and a 17-8 advantage in turnovers pushed Dominican to victory.

Four Lancers scored in double figures, with Tori Mitchell and Blaysen Varnadoe tying for a team-high 17 points each. Mitchell added 11 rebounds for a double-double, while Varnadoe had seven boards and three assists. True freshman Ane Olaeta and Georgia Dale scored 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Emily Schmidt, the second senior on the team, along with Mitchell, logged seven rebounds. Both players saw their collegiate careers coming to a close after helping CBU enjoy a dominant era in NCAA Division II.

The Lancers qualified for the postseason the last four years in a row and went on to win two West Regional Championships, reached two D-II semifinals – including a championship game appearance in 2015 – and logged a combined 110-25 record over the last four seasons.

The Penguins opened the first three-and-a-half minutes of the game on a 9-3 run, but the Lancers cut their deficit down to two, 11-9, with a 6-2 run capped by consecutive layups from Varnadoe. Another Varnadoe bucket tied the game at 14 with 29 seconds left in the first quarter, but Dominican took a 17-14 lead into the second quarter with a late three.

Olaeta went off for 10 points in the second quarter to help the Lancers take a 34-32 lead at halftime. Three minutes into the second, Olaeta knocked down two three-pointers to give the Lancers their first lead of the game, 22-21.

It started a see-saw battle, with two more lead changes and four ties in the final minutes of the first half. An Akayla Hackson three tied it at 25 and a free throw and layup from Mitchell knotted the score at 30. Olaeta ensured the Lancers took a lead into halftime after hitting a runner in the lane and then a buzzer-beating layup for a 34-32 CBU advantage at the break.

The Lancers scored the first four points of the second half, with layups from Lexy Ram and Mitchell, to make it 38-32. Dominican kept coming and tied things back up at 40. It was back-and-forth from there, with a Varnadoe jumper giving CBU the slightest of leads, 56-55, going into the final 10 minutes.

Dominican came back and took a 64-59 lead with six minutes left in regulation but the Lancers refused to quit. Four points from Dale and a three from Varnadoe tied the score at 66 and then a Mitchell layup made it 68-68 with 4:19 remaining.

A three pointer moved DUC back in front and another jump shot gave the visitors a 73-68 cushion with 3:16 left. Field goals from Mitchell and Olaeta cut it down to a 73-72 deficit with 2:28 remaining, but the Penguins drew a foul on the other end and made both shots. They kept their composure down the stretch en route to the 79-72 win.