Monday, March 22
Fort Worth, Tex.
5 PM
California Baptist University
26-1,14-0WAC
55
vs
79
Rice
-214,122 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Rice
25
14
26
14
79
California Baptist
12
16
12
15
55
Lancers Close Out Historic Season In WNIT Fort Worth Regional Championship Game
3/22/2021 8:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball
FORT WORTH – One way or another the California Baptist University women's basketball was leaving Fort Worth on Tuesday morning after its Women's National Invitation Tournament Regional Championship game on Monday night. It was just a matter if the Lancers would be flying home or on to Memphis. The quarterfinal game of the WNIT against Rice was the unfortunate end to this magical season, as the Lancers were finally handed their first loss of the season in a 79-55 contest.
CBU struggled to find its flow from the floor at any point during the game, as shots would rim out and fouls began to pile up early. Caitlyn Harper and Britney Thomas again led the way for the Lancers, finishing with 14 and 12 points, respectively. The pair garnered WNIT All-Region Honors when it was all said and done and rightly so. Over their three games in Fort Worth, Harper averaged 20.7 points on 57.5 percent shooting and 6.3 rebounds per game. Thomas averaged an even 20 points on 25-32 shooting, including a perfect 10-10 against San Francisco, eight rebounds per game, and 83.3 free throw shooting.
Points in the paint, typically a guaranteed win for CBU, went in favor of Rice as the Owls outscored the Lancers 32-16 inside. The senior center for Rice, 6-foot-9 Nancy Mulkey, was locked in on both ends of the court. She scored 16 points but her five blocks were likely more impactful throughout the contest.
The Lancers will not be remembered for this game, but rather this unbelievable season they were able to achieve. CBU women's basketball won the program's first Western Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships. The Lancers were just the sixth team to complete an unblemished conference season, and the first to ever finish the regular season unbeaten in WAC history. They finished the 2020-21 season at 26-1, with a winning percentage of 96.3, the highest mark ever in WAC history.
CBU also became the first WAC team since 2003 to win a WNIT game when it took down the regular-season Mountain West Champions in New Mexico in round one. The Lancers are the first WAC team to win multiple WNIT games since 1998 after defeating San Francisco in round two.
The Lancers also became the first team in NCAA Division I since UConn in 2017-18 to remain undefeated through the regular season and win their conference tournament, joining a list that only includes those Huskies, Notre Dame, and Baylor as the only programs to accomplish that feat since 1998.
CBU also held the nation's longest winning-streak at 29-straight games, topping Harvard's current streak of 22 in-a-row, back on Feb. 20, when CBU defeated Grand Canyon in Riverside. The streak is the second-longest in program history as Head Coach Jarrod Olson took his 2016-17 squad on a 32-game win streak that only ended in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals.
Individually, Ane Olaeta was beyond compare not only in the WAC but in all of Division I, as she finishes her season averaging 7.8 assists per game, the most in the nation unofficially. Her 196 assists will land her fourth on the single-season WAC record list, while her assist-per-game mark is good for third all-time.
Thomas had a stellar year of her own, as the recipient of many Olaeta assists. She made them count more than almost anyone else in the nation, as she concluded the season with a field-goal percentage of .665, good for second-best in Division I. Her field-goal clip will go down in WAC history as the second-best ever.
Olson not only led his Lancers to a 26-1 record, garnering national attention, but earned his 200th CBU victory along the way. Olson trails just Dave King in the Lancers' all-time wins column, but King's mark of 287 could be in jeopardy in the not-so-distant future.
In the most recent College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll, the Lancers ranked No. 5 in the country. Additionally, the program received its first vote in school history in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll.
After the game, coach Olson took a few minutes to sit down with Lancer Radio play-by-play broadcaster Braiden Bell and give his thoughts on this unforgettable season.
"It's a pretty special group and obviously I'm really proud of them. I think it was after my second year I sat down with the team, and we were kind of just trying to figure out where we wanted CBU women's basketball to go. We felt like we were unsure of where things were going to go with the program and Kamille [Diaz], one of our assistants, and Brittany [Sepeda] another one of our assistants, was on that team with Cassidy Mihalko, one of the best players ever and Olivia [Weber] and Erin [Asher] and they all basically said they wanted to make CBU 'The Big Time.' And it's kind of interesting because they felt like they did that while they were here, we went to the Division II Championship game, Final Four, Elite Eight, but I don't think any of us that were sitting in that locker room at that time could envision how far we could take it. I don't think any of them saw this coming and I think it's a real tribute to the girls on the team this year, just how they have set that bar and the new standard because they've done things that it's possible will never happen again. This might have been the best team ever at CBU. It's the best team so far, and I am just so proud of them. They've done things that were beyond what we could have even imagined and they did under really difficult circumstances with COVID, and I couldn't be more proud of the season we've had and the effort that they've given. We haven't had hardly any complaints, no one wanted to opt out because people wanted to be here. I hope that on some level I have been able to impact them like they've impacted me this year cause it's been a great year and I've loved it."
CBU struggled to find its flow from the floor at any point during the game, as shots would rim out and fouls began to pile up early. Caitlyn Harper and Britney Thomas again led the way for the Lancers, finishing with 14 and 12 points, respectively. The pair garnered WNIT All-Region Honors when it was all said and done and rightly so. Over their three games in Fort Worth, Harper averaged 20.7 points on 57.5 percent shooting and 6.3 rebounds per game. Thomas averaged an even 20 points on 25-32 shooting, including a perfect 10-10 against San Francisco, eight rebounds per game, and 83.3 free throw shooting.
🏆🏀 | #WNIT Fort Worth All-Region Selections
🏆MVP | Nancy Mulkey, @RiceWBB pic.twitter.com/Olj7cBfwQo— WNIT (@WomensNIT) March 23, 2021
Points in the paint, typically a guaranteed win for CBU, went in favor of Rice as the Owls outscored the Lancers 32-16 inside. The senior center for Rice, 6-foot-9 Nancy Mulkey, was locked in on both ends of the court. She scored 16 points but her five blocks were likely more impactful throughout the contest.
The Lancers will not be remembered for this game, but rather this unbelievable season they were able to achieve. CBU women's basketball won the program's first Western Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships. The Lancers were just the sixth team to complete an unblemished conference season, and the first to ever finish the regular season unbeaten in WAC history. They finished the 2020-21 season at 26-1, with a winning percentage of 96.3, the highest mark ever in WAC history.
🏆 THE CHAMPS 🏆 #LanceUp⚔️ 🏆 pic.twitter.com/jDm8NFdF6y
— California Baptist Women's Basketball (@CBUwbb) February 21, 2021
CBU also became the first WAC team since 2003 to win a WNIT game when it took down the regular-season Mountain West Champions in New Mexico in round one. The Lancers are the first WAC team to win multiple WNIT games since 1998 after defeating San Francisco in round two.
‼️LANCERS WIN‼️
CBU shoots a mind-blowing 63.3% for the game led by Britney Thomas' perfect 10-10 night, earning a spot in the Fort Worth Regional Finals on Monday night!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/4CPpiZMZwJ— California Baptist Women's Basketball (@CBUwbb) March 21, 2021
The Lancers also became the first team in NCAA Division I since UConn in 2017-18 to remain undefeated through the regular season and win their conference tournament, joining a list that only includes those Huskies, Notre Dame, and Baylor as the only programs to accomplish that feat since 1998.
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!#LanceUp⚔️ | #WACVegas pic.twitter.com/oqxFhZHJNS
— California Baptist Women's Basketball (@CBUwbb) March 13, 2021
CBU also held the nation's longest winning-streak at 29-straight games, topping Harvard's current streak of 22 in-a-row, back on Feb. 20, when CBU defeated Grand Canyon in Riverside. The streak is the second-longest in program history as Head Coach Jarrod Olson took his 2016-17 squad on a 32-game win streak that only ended in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals.
Individually, Ane Olaeta was beyond compare not only in the WAC but in all of Division I, as she finishes her season averaging 7.8 assists per game, the most in the nation unofficially. Her 196 assists will land her fourth on the single-season WAC record list, while her assist-per-game mark is good for third all-time.
🏆🤩
After a full season of leading the conference, and the nation, in assists and guiding her Lancers to their first-ever WAC Regular Season Championship, Ane Olaeta has earned the title of Player of the Year!#LanceUp⚔️ | #WACHoops pic.twitter.com/9K9ckT1czy— California Baptist Women's Basketball (@CBUwbb) March 8, 2021
Thomas had a stellar year of her own, as the recipient of many Olaeta assists. She made them count more than almost anyone else in the nation, as she concluded the season with a field-goal percentage of .665, good for second-best in Division I. Her field-goal clip will go down in WAC history as the second-best ever.
💪☝️
Inland Empire native Britney Thomas has been a reliable and efficient leader for the Lancers on both ends of the court, earning First Team All-WAC and All-Defensive Team honors!#LanceUp⚔️ | #WACHoops pic.twitter.com/AgRxfcu8AU— California Baptist Women's Basketball (@CBUwbb) March 8, 2021
Olson not only led his Lancers to a 26-1 record, garnering national attention, but earned his 200th CBU victory along the way. Olson trails just Dave King in the Lancers' all-time wins column, but King's mark of 287 could be in jeopardy in the not-so-distant future.
The Lancers are 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 also 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.⭐️2⃣0⃣0⃣⭐️
— California Baptist Women's Basketball (@CBUwbb) February 6, 2021
Congratulations Jarrod Olson on win #200 as Head Coach for the Lancers! Coach Olson's win percentage of 74.1 is by far the best mark in program history!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/GSUgVDReDt
In the most recent College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll, the Lancers ranked No. 5 in the country. Additionally, the program received its first vote in school history in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll.
After the game, coach Olson took a few minutes to sit down with Lancer Radio play-by-play broadcaster Braiden Bell and give his thoughts on this unforgettable season.
"It's a pretty special group and obviously I'm really proud of them. I think it was after my second year I sat down with the team, and we were kind of just trying to figure out where we wanted CBU women's basketball to go. We felt like we were unsure of where things were going to go with the program and Kamille [Diaz], one of our assistants, and Brittany [Sepeda] another one of our assistants, was on that team with Cassidy Mihalko, one of the best players ever and Olivia [Weber] and Erin [Asher] and they all basically said they wanted to make CBU 'The Big Time.' And it's kind of interesting because they felt like they did that while they were here, we went to the Division II Championship game, Final Four, Elite Eight, but I don't think any of us that were sitting in that locker room at that time could envision how far we could take it. I don't think any of them saw this coming and I think it's a real tribute to the girls on the team this year, just how they have set that bar and the new standard because they've done things that it's possible will never happen again. This might have been the best team ever at CBU. It's the best team so far, and I am just so proud of them. They've done things that were beyond what we could have even imagined and they did under really difficult circumstances with COVID, and I couldn't be more proud of the season we've had and the effort that they've given. We haven't had hardly any complaints, no one wanted to opt out because people wanted to be here. I hope that on some level I have been able to impact them like they've impacted me this year cause it's been a great year and I've loved it."
You're never ready for a season to end. It's been one for the record books. We've enjoyed it with you, Lancer Nation.
🔹26-1 Overall Record
🔹Undefeated Regular Season
🔹WAC Champions
🔹First DI Postseason Wins
Reply with a word of appreciation for the team!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/P84cvLi4zZ— California Baptist Women's Basketball (@CBUwbb) March 23, 2021
Team Stats
Rice
CBU
FG%
.476
.317
3FG%
.444
.256
FT%
.786
.625
RB
45
33
TO
13
17
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
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