California Baptist University
6-0,1-0WAC
Southern Utah
1-4,0-1WAC
Lancers Defeat Thunderbirds by 13 in Utah to Open Conference Play
11/28/2023 7:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball
CEDAR CITY, UTAH - In the highly anticipated 2022-23 WAC Tournament Championship game rematch, California Baptist faced Southern Utah to open the 2023-24 WAC schedule on Tuesday night in Utah. The Thunderbirds held court early, but the Lancers' dominated the second half on their way to a 79-66 victory to remain perfect on the season, now standing at 6-0 overall and 1-0 in the WAC. The result is Southern Utah's first home loss in WAC play since joining the conference and drops the Thunderbirds to 1-4 on the young season.
Chloe Webb's stellar season continued without much resistance, and she posted her third 20-point double-double of the season, closing the night with another incredible stat line of 23 points, 13 rebounds, five steals, and three assists. Kinsley Barrington matched her career high with 21 points, shooting 60% from the field and beyond the arc while also grabbing eight rebounds. Grace Schmidt battled size and physical play down low all night but overcame a scoreless first half to pitch in 14 points in the second. Freshman sharpshooter Khloe Lemon added 10 points and four rebounds.
The first half was tight the whole way through, as CBU and SUU were never more than seven points apart in the opening two quarters. The teams matched each other in three-pointers made, while CBU held a slight edge, 25-23, in first-half rebounds. The Thunderbirds earned their opening half lead on a slight defensive edge, blocking a few more shots and forcing a few more turnovers to nullify a double-digit Lancer advantage in bench points. The home squad would eventually take a two-point lead into the break.
After halftime, the Lancers took over, opening on a 10-4 run to begin building their lead. Webb and Schmidt were locked in, accounting for 19 of CBU's 23 third-period points.
That momentum only built in the fourth quarter as Webb and Barrington opened the final frame on their own 6-0 run to earn the game's first double-digit lead at 61-50. They would eventually build that difference to as much as 15 with four minutes to go, but the Thunderbirds were not going down without a fight. SUU would claw back with a 9-2 run of their own after that. Head Coach Jarrod Olson took a quick timeout after that shift to quell the home team run. His Lancers responded immediately with a bucket from Schmidt and a pair of free throws from Anaiyah Tu'ua to get the deficit back up to a dozen. Schmidt added one more in the final minute to reach the final score of 79-66.
The Lancers are quiet for the rest of this week but will return to Utah on December 6 for a second conference game, this time in St. George against Utah Tech at 6:00 p.m. Pacific. The Lancers will go up against a Trailblazer team against whom they have won 13 of the past 14 contests dating back to 2014 in the PacWest.
