Saturday, March 13
Las Vegas
2 PM
California Baptist University
24-0,14-0WAC
78
vs
60
No. 3 Grand Canyon
18-7,8-4WAC
1
2
3
4
F
Grand Canyon
16
16
9
19
60
California Baptist
21
22
12
23
78
Women's Basketball Wins The WAC Tournament Championship; Joins Elite Group with Baylor, Notre Dame and UConn
3/13/2021 4:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
California Baptist is the first program since UConn (2018) to go undefeated in the regular season while also winning a conference tournament championship. No schools other than Baylor, Notre Dame, UConn and now CBU have accomplished this since 1998.
LAS VEGAS – California Baptist University women's basketball added yet another jewel to the crown that is the 2020-21 season, defeating #3 Grand Canyon, 78-60, to claim the program's first-ever Western Athletic Conference Tournament Championship. The Lancers used a record-setting game from beyond the arc and held Grand Canyon to season-lows in field goal percentage (30.6, 19-62) and three-point percentage (16.7, 4-24) to claim the title.
"It's been a real crazy year with all the COVID stuff at the beginning," said CBU head coach Jarrod Olson moments after clinching the championship. "Just the fact that we have won every game we've played, it's been really unusual. It's been a lot of fun to coach this team. They're really easy to work with. It's been a real special year and I'm really proud of the girls."
The second quarter was all Lancers as they began the period on an 11-2 run, eventually building up a 15-point lead midway through before going into halftime up 43-32. Sydney Palma led the way in quarter number two with nine points on perfect 3-3 shooting from beyond the arc.
Defense was the name of the game in the third as the Lancers clamped down on the Lopes, holding them to just nine points on 4-15 shooting and 0-6 from long-range. The final quarter would see the Lopes attempt a comeback, but their strategy of sending Britney Thomas to the line in an attempt to gain some ground didn't quite pan out as Thomas sank 5-6 free throws in the final frame and grabbed four big boards, two on each side of the court.
The Lancers finished the game out-rebounding the Lopes 49-33. Four Lancers grabbed five or more boards, with Britney Thomas collecting a game-high 12. "The rebounding was huge. They (GCU) really got us the last time on the offensive glass. We have Thomas with 12, Harper with nine, but almost everybody that played had more than one. I think that just goes to show you how much of a team effort it really was and how they were committed to getting the job done," said coach Olson after the game.
Tiena Neale scored a new career-high 21 points and a personal-best five made three-pointers. Her career performance would also earn her a spot on the WAC All-Tournament team after averaging 14 points and four rebounds during the series.
All-WAC player Britney Thomas and WAC Player of the Year Ane Olaeta didn't put up some of the gaudy numbers fans have grown accustomed to this season, but they did the most important job, which is leading their team to victory. Thomas scored eight points and grabbed 12 boards while showing why she was also voted to the WAC All-Defensive team. Olaeta spent much of the game making the pass that led to the assist-pass and creating opportunities for her teammates, while still making plays that kept the defense honest.
Palma would finish with 15 points, including the final CBU three-pointer from way downtown, the shot that capped the Lancers record shooting night as they set a new WAC Tournament record with 17 made three-pointers. The Lancers flirted with another record with 28 combined made three-pointers in the tournament, the current record for most three's made by a team is 33, set by Fresno State in three games in 2012.
California Baptist now must wait to see who it will face in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament, which is set to begin on Friday, March 19. The WNIT final field and game locations will be announced Monday night, March 14, with the Lancers participating in either Memphis, TN., or Fort Worth, TX. California Baptist was the first automatic qualifier announced back on March 5 since then four other AQ's have been announced as Louisiana (16-6 Sun Belt), New Mexico (15-4 Mountain West), Samford (14-9 SoCon), and UT Martin (20-5 Ohio Valley) all joined the field earlier this week.
"It's been a real crazy year with all the COVID stuff at the beginning," said CBU head coach Jarrod Olson moments after clinching the championship. "Just the fact that we have won every game we've played, it's been really unusual. It's been a lot of fun to coach this team. They're really easy to work with. It's been a real special year and I'm really proud of the girls."
The Lancers become the first team since UConn in 2017-18 to complete an undefeated regular season and win their conference tournament in the same season, and just the fourth school since 1998 to accomplish the feat along with Notre Dame and Baylor. CBU is the first school to be undefeated and not participate in the NCAA Tournament since Oral Roberts in 1983. California Baptist is in year three of a four-year transition process to full NCAA Division I membership that began July 2018.WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!#LanceUp⚔️ | #WACVegas pic.twitter.com/oqxFhZHJNS
— California Baptist WBB 1️⃣9️⃣✖️🔥➕✂️➕🔥🔥🔥✂️ (@CBUwbb) March 13, 2021
The first quarter began as a tightly contested 10 minutes with the two teams trading leads often. By the time the first media timeout came, Tiena Neale had already dropped a game-leading eight points on 2-4 shooting from 3-point land. After the media timeout, a Lancer line-change swapped out four starters with just Caitlyn Harper as the lone starter staying on the floor as the second-line would close out the opening frame on an 11-5 run and finish the first quarter with a 21-16 lead.California Baptist is the first program since UConn (2018) to go undefeated in the regular season while also winning a conference tournament championship. No schools other than Baylor, Notre Dame, UConn and now CBU have accomplished this since 1998.#LanceUp⚔️ | #ncaaw pic.twitter.com/52VZHwamZe
— California Baptist WBB 1️⃣9️⃣✖️🔥➕✂️➕🔥🔥🔥✂️ (@CBUwbb) March 14, 2021
The second quarter was all Lancers as they began the period on an 11-2 run, eventually building up a 15-point lead midway through before going into halftime up 43-32. Sydney Palma led the way in quarter number two with nine points on perfect 3-3 shooting from beyond the arc.
Defense was the name of the game in the third as the Lancers clamped down on the Lopes, holding them to just nine points on 4-15 shooting and 0-6 from long-range. The final quarter would see the Lopes attempt a comeback, but their strategy of sending Britney Thomas to the line in an attempt to gain some ground didn't quite pan out as Thomas sank 5-6 free throws in the final frame and grabbed four big boards, two on each side of the court.
The Lancers finished the game out-rebounding the Lopes 49-33. Four Lancers grabbed five or more boards, with Britney Thomas collecting a game-high 12. "The rebounding was huge. They (GCU) really got us the last time on the offensive glass. We have Thomas with 12, Harper with nine, but almost everybody that played had more than one. I think that just goes to show you how much of a team effort it really was and how they were committed to getting the job done," said coach Olson after the game.
Tiena Neale scored a new career-high 21 points and a personal-best five made three-pointers. Her career performance would also earn her a spot on the WAC All-Tournament team after averaging 14 points and four rebounds during the series.
"She came out firing, guns a-blazing," said Olson. "She did not pass for like the first seven touches, but she was steady the whole way through. She'll be the first one to say it was a lot of her teammates setting her up, but she had to step up and knock it in. I just love to see that confidence she played with today. We know she is capable of doing it, but it's just great to see it when it happens."New WAC Tournament Record!
— California Baptist WBB 1️⃣9️⃣✖️🔥➕✂️➕🔥🔥🔥✂️ (@CBUwbb) March 13, 2021
The Lancers break the all-time WAC Tournament record for most made threes in a game with 16!#LanceUp⚔ | #BeatGCU | #WACVegas pic.twitter.com/1bCkXQFoKc
All-WAC player Britney Thomas and WAC Player of the Year Ane Olaeta didn't put up some of the gaudy numbers fans have grown accustomed to this season, but they did the most important job, which is leading their team to victory. Thomas scored eight points and grabbed 12 boards while showing why she was also voted to the WAC All-Defensive team. Olaeta spent much of the game making the pass that led to the assist-pass and creating opportunities for her teammates, while still making plays that kept the defense honest.
Palma would finish with 15 points, including the final CBU three-pointer from way downtown, the shot that capped the Lancers record shooting night as they set a new WAC Tournament record with 17 made three-pointers. The Lancers flirted with another record with 28 combined made three-pointers in the tournament, the current record for most three's made by a team is 33, set by Fresno State in three games in 2012.
"We started showing some signs yesterday with the ball movement," added Olson. "We've had a couple little moments in the last three weeks and started clicking, but it was never consistent. I'm not surprised we played that well offensively, but it's great to see because we did it for the length of the game. The ball movement was great, and you can see all those threes were catch and shoots."WHY NOT!?!
— California Baptist WBB 1️⃣9️⃣✖️🔥➕✂️➕🔥🔥🔥✂️ (@CBUwbb) March 13, 2021
Sydney Palma from Riverside!!!#LanceUp⚔ | #BeatGCU | #WACVegas pic.twitter.com/Qpl686XhTO
Harper was the third Lancer to finish in double-figures with ten points to go with nine rebounds, four assists and a block. Harper would collect Tournament MVP honors when all was said and done, averaging 13.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in the Lancers' two games. Grand Canyon, Utah Valley, and NM State would each claim one WAC All-Tournament representative each.Lancers getting some love from Neil Everett on @SportsCenter tonight...#LanceUp⚔️ | #ncaaw pic.twitter.com/QeUUCcHlQp
— California Baptist WBB 1️⃣9️⃣✖️🔥➕✂️➕🔥🔥🔥➕✂️ (@CBUwbb) March 14, 2021
WHAT'S NEXT
🏆🏆
All-Tournament Team - Tiena Neale
Tournament MVP - Caitlyn Harper#LanceUp pic.twitter.com/qCd6PuN0Hi— California Baptist WBB 1️⃣9️⃣✖️🔥➕✂️➕🔥🔥🔥✂️ (@CBUwbb) March 14, 2021
California Baptist now must wait to see who it will face in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament, which is set to begin on Friday, March 19. The WNIT final field and game locations will be announced Monday night, March 14, with the Lancers participating in either Memphis, TN., or Fort Worth, TX. California Baptist was the first automatic qualifier announced back on March 5 since then four other AQ's have been announced as Louisiana (16-6 Sun Belt), New Mexico (15-4 Mountain West), Samford (14-9 SoCon), and UT Martin (20-5 Ohio Valley) all joined the field earlier this week.
We have our first automatic qualifier! Out of @WACsports, undefeated @CBUwbb (20-0, 12-0 WAC) secures their spot in the 2021 Postseason #WNIT! 🏀 pic.twitter.com/MJieyVeWaH— WNIT (@WomensNIT) March 5, 2021
Team Stats
GCU
CBU
FG%
.306
.393
3FG%
.167
.425
FT%
.750
.813
RB
33
49
TO
10
18
STL
8
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
5
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballW
/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
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