California Baptist University
22-13,13-5WAC
NM State
18-17,10-8WAC
CBU Wins The Women’s Basketball Invitational Championship
3/19/2023 9:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LEXINGTON – The Lancers are the 2023 Women's Basketball Invitational champions after defeating New Mexico State 63-61 on Sunday night. California Baptist ends the year with three-straight wins, culminating in the program's first-ever WBI Championship. 🏆 𝐖𝐁𝐈 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 🏆
The Lancers are coming home with a little more hardware than they left with!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/bVIOgAI6Ko
The game was no cakewalk and came down to the final seconds as the Aggies mounted a furious comeback attempt in the final moments. NM State closed the game on a 10-2 run, but the Lancers defended a final layup attempt with two seconds left perfectly to seal the victory. Chloe Webb sank a pair of free throws with under a minute to go, which were the difference in the game.
The Lancers' path to victory was a successful game plan on both ends of the court. CBU shot season-highs from the field at 53.5% (24-43) and from beyond the arc at 57.9% (11-19). NM State won the rebounding battle, but 15 of those boards were offensive as CBU held the Aggies to just 35% accuracy during the game. NMSU went just 2-17 from deep, missing their first 13 before connecting with 1:42 left in the game.
Grace Schmidt led the Lancers with a team-high 16 points on 7-8 shooting from the floor, including hitting both her second half three-pointers. She concluded her incredible freshman campaign by being named the WBI Tournament MVP after averaging 18.3 points on 67.7% shooting with 5.3 rebounds per game in Kentucky. ⭐️⭐️ Dorcas Wu hits one from way downtown! She's already 3-3 from beyond the arc tonight!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/L6RUWqEwWR TRINITY❗️AND-ONE‼️#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/7yiRvVnkXB
Grace Schmidt has been named the @PostseasonWBI MVP! What a way to cap an amazing freshman campaign!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/ToRHASzTtH
Dorcas Wu got the Lancers off on the right foot, setting the tone for the whole game by drilling three deep three-pointers in the first half. Wu capped her CBU career with 12 points, two boards, and a block.
Trinity San Antonio got it done in all facets of the game. She scored 11 but also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Despite only getting credit for one steal, her constant ball pressure on defense helped force NM State into 10 turnovers.
This 2022-23 CBU women's basketball team will hang a handful of new banners in the rafters next season and add a prevalent new trophy to the collection when they return on Monday, commemorating a very successful season. This year's team has managed to bolster the program's incredible start to the Division I era, posting a third-straight season with 22-or-more wins and bumping up the DI win percentage to 67.7% (105-50) while also improving the conference win average to 70.7% (58-24).
