California Baptist University
Oregon
WBB SEASON PREVIEW: Reigning Champion Lancers Begin The 24-25 Season With High Goals and Expectations
11/1/2024 9:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
RIVERSIDE - California Baptist University women's basketball is reloaded and ready for another season of top-quality competition. The program's inaugural trip to March Madness last season has carried over into the new season by being ranked No. 21 in the CollegeInsider Mid-Major Top-25 poll and a non-conference schedule that will test the Lancers like no previous season.
Road trips to Oregon, Liberty, Portland, USC, and more will test the new-look Lancers ahead of Western Athletic Conference play and build the on-court chemistry between the seven returners and four newcomers. As challenging as the road slate promises to be, the home schedule is no walk-over. The Lancers will face a few known opponents in the Fowler Events Center in Pepperdine, San Diego State, and UC San Diego. Still, new quality challengers in Saint Louis and Middle Tennessee will be must-see action in Riverside.
The loss of Chloe Webb is undeniable; a 20+ point-per-game scorer is always tough to replace, but the Lancers return four of their next five highest scoring averages from a season ago, led by stretch guard Filipa Barros at 12.3 ppg, and Grace Schmidt, who was adding 12.1 per game before an injury cut her 2023-24 season short. Anaiyah Tu'ua and Nhug Bosch Duran will surely see increased roles as well, both proven scorers who combined to go for 15-or-more points 11 times last season.
Additions of transfers like Emma Johansson, who arrived in Riverside via South Florida and hails from Sweden originally, look to be a perfect fit for Head Coach Jarrod Olson's system. Johansson averaged 2.3 points in 52 games for the Bulls, but her ability to hit from distance, grab rebounds, and even drive the lane gives her an unlimited ceiling to start the year. Hailey Long, a junior college transfer originally from Gallup, New Mexico, has a track record of efficiency, posting shooting percentages of 35 and 43 percent at Eastern Wyoming and Colorado NW, respectively, and scoring in bunches after averaging over 14 ppg.
Olson also has a pair of freshmen who look poised to continue Lancer women's basketball's upward trajectory for years to come. Shawnee Nordstrom is a New Zealander at heart but spent her high school years winning state championships for Lone Peak High School in Highland, Utah. She earned back-to-back 6A State Player of the Year nods and was named the 2024 State Tournament MVP after leading her team to a three-peat. Fellow freshman CeCe Legaspi is a 5-10 guard from Meridian, Idaho, who also has extensive high school state tournament experience and earned a pair of All-State First Team awards for her work at Rocky Mountain High School.
The players weren't the only roster to shake up over the summer, as coach Olson also has a revamped staff roster. Former Associate Head Coach Angie Ned left to lead the CSUN Matadors over the summer, making the December 11 contest in Northridge a bit more interesting. That vacancy was filled internally as longtime assistant Brittany Chambers moved into the Associate HC role after seven years on staff. Steve Yang also moved on after last season for an Associate Head Coach position, freeing up two assistant spots on the Lancer women's staff filled with quality leaders with Division I head coaching experience.
Kelsey Keizer spent last season leading the Pepperdine Waves, who gave the Lancers a scare on December 9 as CBU edged out a 60-57 win in Malibu. Keizer's Waves held CBU to one of their lowest single-game three-point percentages in the Olson era, forcing the Lancers to go just 2-25 (8.0%) from long-range. While that alone is not why Keizer got the role, it's safe to assume that performance was noted and impactful.
Also joining the staff this season is Maiya Michel, a former Denver Pioneers starter who's prowess on the boards reflects in the DU record books as she has is third all-time in single-season rebounds, with 293 in the 2012-13 season, and earned 2013 WAC All-Defensive Team honors. Since then, Michel has coached at programs all over the West, including Arizona State, Vanguard, Mt. SAC, La Verne, and Idaho State.
OREGON AT A GLANCE
The Ducks are looking for a bounce-back season after tallying a record of 11-21 in 2023-24 and will look to start 24-25 by snapping an existing 14-game losing streak that dates back to January 19, 2024. The Ducks return just two of their top-five scorers from a season ago when they managed just two wins in the Pac-12.
Despite the down year for the Ducks, longtime head coach Kelly Graves has utilized the transfer portal in a big way to bring in players from top programs like Texas and Arizona, as well as the Defensive Player of the Year from the MAAC and an All-Big West talent. Tops on that transfer list is former North Carolina guard Deja Kelly. Kelly joins the Ducks after leading the Tar Heels in scoring for the past three seasons and is garnering national attention before even playing a game for Oregon, being named on the preseason Naismith and Leiberman Award watchlists.
Monday's season opener will be streamed exclusively on the BIG+ (subscription required). Tipoff is set for 4:00 p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena.
GAME INFO:
Date: Monday, November 4
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Where: Eugene, Oregon
Venue: Matthew Knight Arena
LINKS: B1G+ | Live Stats | Roster | Schedule | Season Stats
LIBERTY AT A GLANCE
The Flames will hit the ground running in 2024-25, starting the year with three games against NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago in Duke, CBU, and Tennessee. Liberty posted an 18-16 season record last year, going 11-5 in Conference USA and falling to regular season champions Middle Tennessee in the C-USA Tournament title game.
The Flames were picked second in this seasons C-USA preseason poll, and their top-three returning scorers, Bella Smuda, Emma Hess, and Asia Boone, were all Preseason All-C-USA picks. Smuda was also included on the preseason watch list for the Becky Hammond Mid-Major Player of the Year Award, the first Flame to claim inclusion on that list.
Saturday's game against Liberty is scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m. Pacific time (7:00 p.m. local) and will be available for streaming via ESPN+.
GAME INFO:
Date: Saturday, November 9
Time: 4:00 p.m. Pacific
Where: Lynchburg, Virginia
Venue: Liberty Arena
LINKS: ESPN+ | Live Stats | Roster | Schedule | Season Stats
