MALIBU - A tight back-and-forth affair came down to last-second heroics by Chloe Webb, who led California Baptist women's basketball past Pepperdine on Saturday afternoon, 60-57, in Malibu. The win preserves the Lancers' perfect start to the season, improving to 8-0 on the year while also providing a landmark win for Head Coach Jarrod Olson, who claimed his 400th NCAA head coaching win with the victory.
Chloe Webb continued her unconscious run to start the year, scoring 28 against the Waves, posting 20-or-more points for the seventh-straight game which is a program record in the NCAA era. Webb shot 50% from the floor (8-16) and 12-16 from the free throw line, scoring ten in the second and fourth quarters. Filipa Barros and Khloe Lemon were the next two highest-scoring Lancers, with nine and eight off the bench, respectively.
Statistically, the Lancers didn't have it on offense today, shooting 29.2% from the field (21-72) and 8% from beyond the arc (2-25). However, they brought their top-tier defense to Malibu, snagging 20 steals, the most against a Division I opponent in program history. Ultimately forcing Pepperdine into 31 total turnovers.
It was an especially slow start to the game for CBU, who was held to single digits in a quarter for the first time this season, trailing the Waves 14-9 at the end of the first. They corrected course in the second quarter, opening the frame on a 20-4 run, leading by 11 at one point, before Pepperdine went on a run of their own and hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to close the CBU lead to 29-25 at halftime.
After halftime, the Waves stormed back, building a six-point lead before CBU closed the gap in the final seconds to go into the fourth trailing 43-41. CBU was a three-headed monster in the final frame, with Webb scoring ten, Nae Nae Calhoun depositing five, and Barros adding four. The Lancers trailed late as Pepperdine led 57-56 with just 43 seconds left to play, that's when Webb came up big again, slicing through the Waves to score the go-ahead bucket with 37 seconds left and connecting on a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left to seal it.
Up next for the Lancers is the final non-conference home game of the season as Cal State Fullerton visits Riverside for the second time ever. The Titans and Lancers will tip off at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 16, in the Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler Events Center.
