RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A near triple double from
Britney Thomas put California Baptist University in another Western Athletic Conference battle versus the University of Missouri-Kansas City on Thursday night.
The Lancers led most of the game in their first home WAC game before ultimately coming up just short in a 78-74 loss to UMKC in the CBU Events Center. Thomas ended up with 25 points on 12-for-20 shooting, 19 rebounds and seven blocks.
Thomas' seven blocks tied for the second most in an NCAA-era game at CBU. It was just the fourth time a Lancer has had that many blocks in that span, with the record set at nine. Her 19 rebounds were tied for the fourth most from a CBU player in the NCAA era and one off her season high.
Contributions came from all over for CBU.
Delacy Brown finished with 15 points, four assists and two steals, and
Ane Olaeta added 14 points, five assists and two steals.
Caitlyn Harper gave CBU four players with double-digit points, with 10 exactly, while
Georgia Dale finished with eight points.
CBU never trailed through the first 37-plus minutes on Thursday. A great defensive effort and opportunistic, transition offense helped the Lancers lead by as many as 12 in the contest.
The Roos boast the top offense in the WAC, but only managed to shoot 34.2 percent from the field in the game, They were kept in it by 10 three-pointers, though.
All four quarters played out the same, with CBU taking control early and then UMKC rallying late. The Lancers started the game on a 7-0 run, and led by as many as nine (16-7) in the first quarter.
Brown scored seven of her team's first 16 points and finished with eight on 3-of-4 shooting in the first quarter. Kansas City managed to cut its deficit down to 18-16 going into the second quarter.
CBU then scored 12 of the first 14 points of the second quarter to take its largest lead of the game, 30-18. Thomas fueled the run by scoring six of those 12.
Once again, UMKC managed to close the quarter strong to trail by just four points at halftime, 34-30. CBU pushed its lead back out to 44-34 with a 10-4 run to start to the third quarter. Thomas scored six of those points.
UMKC fought back within five, 56-51, going into the fourth quarter. The Lancers took their advantage back out to nine, 60-51, 70 seconds in the quarter, but the Roos fought all the back and took their first lead of the game (67-66) with 2:11 to play.
Three-pointers from Brown and Harper kept CBU in it until the finish, but were not enough to put the Lancers back in front, as Kansas City hit their free throws and came up with several big rebounds late.
UMKC improves to 8-7, 2-0 in the conference and has now won six of its last seven games. The Lancers move to 6-9, 0-3 this season and continue a three-game homestand with a WAC game against Chicago State Saturday at 1 p.m.
