STEPHENVILLE, TEXAS –A thrilling game came down to the wire as California Baptist women's basketball and Tarleton State played two extra periods, ultimately ending with CBU claiming victory by a score of 89-84 in Stephenville. The Lancers are now winners of eight of their last 11 games, improving to 13-11 overall and 9-4 in conference play, and are currently tied with Grand Canyon for third place in the Western Athletic Conference standings.
Grace Schmidt continued her march towards WAC Freshman of the Year, scoring 27 points total, just one shy of her career-high, to go with eight rebounds. Trinity San Antonio and Brittany Klaman each exploded in the second half. San Antonio posted 19 of her 23 points after halftime, and Klaman hit all four of her three-pointers after the break.
The game was tight throughout as CBU's biggest lead was four in regulation, while TSU held a short-lived eight-point lead at its peak. The Texans held a two-point lead at the half despite being unable to stop Schmidt in the first 20 minutes of action, scoring 15 of CBU's 28 first-half points.
The majority of the second half was a one-possession game, with the Texans controlling late, holding a two-point lead with under thirty seconds to go. San Antonio drove strong and forced overtime with 24 seconds to go. The Texans had a chance to put it away at the end of the first overtime, beneficiaries of three free throws while trailing by two with 2.1 seconds to go. The TSU player sank the first two but shorted the third.
The second overtime was all CBU as the Texans' leg began to show their fatigue in their fourth game in eight days. San Antonio would score the final five Lancer points on Saturday to seal the victory for the road team.
The Lancers will have a home and away week ahead of them, first hosting Utah Valley on Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. in the CBU Events Center before heading to Las Cruces for a Saturday matinee against New Mexico State at 3:00 p.m. Pacific.