RIVERSIDE - California Baptist University women's basketball began the new calendar year with a huge Western Athletic Conference win, defeating Utah Valley for the seventh-straight time, downing the Wolverines 80-61 on Thursday night. Despite playing with just seven active players, CBU posted a scoreline of 80 or more for the fourth time this season.
The result improves CBU's record to 11-1 (3-0 WAC), while Utah Valley drops to 5-7 (0-3 WAC). By virtue of a better overall win percentage, CBU remains atop the WAC standings, with Grand Canyon (11-3, 3-0 WAC) and Stephen F. Austin (9-5, 3-0 WAC) as the only other teams still undefeated in conference play.
True freshman, Khloe Lemon made it back-to-back starts on Thursday, which was the right call as the Nebraska native posted a career-high 19 points to lead all players. Filipa Barros continued her hot streak as well, scoring 18 points and dishing a game-high six assists. Chloe Webb was just behind her Portuguese teammate with 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Kinsley Barrington was the fourth and final Lancer to break double-digit scoring, posting 14 points on a very efficient 6-8 shooting from the field.
Lemon did much of her damage in the first half, scoring 15 of her 19 points in the first 20 minutes. Her efforts were massive as she shot 6-6 from the field and 3-3 from distance, leading to CBU's 22-point lead at halftime. Barros added a dozen in the first half as the underclassmen-led backcourt paced the action.
CBU protected the ball well, countering the Wolverine's most effective weapon as UVU collected just five steals on the night, well under their game average of over a dozen per game. The Wolverines' three-point percentage of .067 (1-15) marked the sixth time in the NCAA era that CBU has held a team to under 10% shooting from distance.
The Lancers' will look to start WAC play 4-0 for the third time in the past four years on Saturday when they take on Seattle U. The weekend matinee will tip at 1:00 p.m. at the Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler Events Center.
