LAS VEGAS – The historical run continues as undefeated California Baptist University women's basketball took care of business with a 79-54 victory against NM State at The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas in the WAC Tournament semifinals on Friday afternoon.
The Lancers will take on No. 3 seed Grand Canyon in the WAC Championship on Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPN Plus. The CBU Radio Network will also provide a free audio stream with Braiden Bell behind the mic.
With a CBU win on Saturday, the Lancers would be the first school since Connecticut in 2018 to have gone undefeated in the regular season while winning a conference tournament crown. UConn actually accomplished the feat three straight seasons (2015-16, 2016-17 & 2017-18). The last school other than UConn to do it was Notre Dame in 2013-14. Baylor also did it in 2011-12. No schools other than Baylor, Notre Dame and UConn have accomplished this since 1998.
In CBU's Friday semifinal contest, the Lancers had a sluggish start in their first ever WAC Tournament game. CBU shot a dismal 2-of-19 from the field and found themselves trailing by eight, 15-7, to the Aggies at the end of the first quarter. The seven points by CBU matched a season low when the Lancers were held to seven points in the second quarter of a 61-51 victory over Cal Poly on Dec. 19, 2020.
"I think a lot of teams would have gotten pretty nervous there," said CBU head coach
Jarrod Olson. "You see it all the time this year where the top-seeded team or favorite team gets off to a slow start. It was a real credit to our girls and the confidence that they have that that wasn't going to phase them."
Things started to go the direction of the Lancers in the second period thanks in large part to the defensive effort of
Georgia Dale. She made plays on the defensive end with two blocks and a steal that energized the Lancers on the offensive end.
Caitlyn Harper tallied nine points while
Sydney Palma nailed a pair from deep, as CBU took control with a 30-27 advantage at halftime.
The flood gates opened in the second half as the Lancers shot 55-percent from the field after shooting just 28-percent (10-36) in the first half. The Lancers led by as many as 29 points midway through the fourth quarter before coasting to the final margin.
CBU finished the games with 13 made three pointers with all but one coming after the first quarter. Seven different Lancers converted from beyond the arc.
Brittany Klaman and
Taylor Wu each had three while Harper and Palma had two each.
For the Lancers, Harper scored a game-high 17 points with eight rebounds and two assists. T. Wu tallied 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting from three along with four boards and four assists. Dale finished with five points, four assists, three steals and a pair of blocks.
NM State was led by Soufia Inoussa with 14 points and Aaliyah Prince with 12 points. The Aggies finish the season with a 9-12 overall record.
The Lancers remain unbeaten at 23-0 and hold the nation's longest winning streak (26) dating back to last season heading into Saturday's championship game.
"It's a championship game," said Olson. "I think a lot of times in those situations that the Xs and Os don't really matter that much. It's more who is going to be a little bit more tough and who gets some breaks here and there. We'll be ready to play. It will be a lot of fun. It's the first tournament that we have been in, in a long time."
