RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A remarkable first season in the Western Athletic Conference came to a close for California Baptist University in a game against NM State, the five-time reigning regular-season WAC champions, on Saturday.
It was Senior Day for CBU's
Emma Meriggioli and
Kristine Sellona, and the Lancers put together a great opening 20 minutes to lead the Aggies by seven at halftime. NM State showed its mettle and controlled the second half en route to a 92-64 win.
The Lancers end the regular season with an 18-11, 11-5 in WAC record. CBU had already clinched a runner-up finish in the conference outright by winning nine games in a row and 12 of its last 13 going into Saturday. It was quite an accomplishment for CBU after it was picked to finish seventh or eighth out of the nine teams in the WAC's preseason poll.
CBU is almost certainly postseason bound, and will just have to wait and see what postseason tournament it is accepted into. The Aggies improve to 23-6, 15-1 going into the WAC Championships next week.
Although it was shorthanded, CBU had six players score at least six points on Saturday.
Lexy Ram (seven rebounds, three assists);
Caitlyn Harper (10 rebounds) and
Georgia Dale all tied for a team-high with 13 points each.
Ane Olaeta added seven points and five assists, while
Tiena Afu chipped in seven points and seven rebounds.
Delacy Brown contributed six points and five rebounds for the Lancers.
CBU came out and took a 39-32 lead on the WAC champions at halftime. The Lancers had a 24-18 lead in rebounds and six players with at least four points in the first 20 minutes.
Down 10-6, a 5-0 run made up of a layup from Brown and a three from Ram gave CBU its first lead of the game, 11-10, with 3:41 left in the first quarter.
Both teams played their way to a 20-20 tie at the end of the first quarter before the Aggies took a 29-24 lead three minutes into the second quarter. The Lancers finished the first half on a 15-3 run to go into the intermission with a 39-32 lead. Afu and Ram each had five points in the run.
NM State opened the second half on a 13-6 run to tie the game at 45-45 with 6:09 left in the third quarter. The Aggies never looked back and had a 16-points lead, 65-49, going into the fourth.
