RIVERSIDE - California Baptist University women's basketball cruised to a season sweep of Southern Utah tonight in Riverside, downing the Thunderbirds 93-67 in the Fowler Events Center. The Lancers now stand at 14-2 (6-1 WAC) this year and have pushed their home unbeaten streak to 7-0 to open the season, and 10 in a row dating back to February 4, 2023.
Khloe Lemon posted another career-high, but this one will likely stick for a while. The true freshman from Omaha put up a game-high 28 points on the TBirds on 12-17 shooting from the field. It is tied for the third-most in a game this season and ties the freshman single-game scoring record against a Division I opponent, matching Grace Schmidt's effort against Utah Valley a season ago.
Chloe Webb scored 19 points in just 21 minutes of work against SUU and grabbed eight rebounds.
Anaiyah Tu'ua and
Emily Sewell each hit double-figures as well with 17 and 12, respectively. Collectively, the Lancers shot 46.1% (35-76) and thrived off of the Thunderbirds mistakes, outscoring SUU 24-3 off of turnovers. CBU also capitalized on a significant speed advantage, winning the fastbreak battle 19-1.
Fresh off a career-high 37 points in her last outing, Webb opened the game on her own five-point run, closing the opening frame with eight, while Lemon chipped in nine in the opening period. Tu'ua did the bulk of her damage in the second quarter, scoring eight with a pair of threes and a layup. CBU led by 23 at the break.
Lemon peaked in the third, scoring 13 of her 28 after halftime, but with the game essentially in hand, she would get a hard-earned break for the entire fourth quarter. CBU's lead ballooned up to as much as 38 in the second half, 91-53 with 4:46 to go in the fourth, and even though SUU would close the game on a 14-2 run, that only brought it back to a 26-point final margin at 93-67.
The Lancers are home again next week, this time for a pair of games. Thursday will be their annual Education Day game, which is set to be their biggest yet, with over 4,500 local elementary students expected to be in attendance. The Lancers will host the University of Texas Rio Grand Valley Vaqueros for that game, which is set to tip at 11:00 a.m.
