NORTHRIDGE - The California Baptist University women's basketball team traveled to nearby CSUN for a midweek battle against the Matadors, hanging on in the fourth quarter to secure back-to-back wins with a 73-71 victory over the red and black. Literal last-second heroics from Anaiyah Tu'ua and a career game from Nhug Bosch Duran propelled the Lancers to victory.
Bosch Duran poured in a career-high 20 points with a season-best five three-pointers made to lead the Lancers to a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. After a remarkable Matador rally, Tu'ua would step up in the final seconds with the game tied and hit a turnaround jumper with less than a second left to win the game. She finished with 19 and a game-high seven assists. Emma Johansson and Grace Schmidt each added 11 points to the effort, with Johansson grabbing a game-high seven rebounds and denying three CSUN tries. This was the Swede's fifth game this season with three or more blocks, the most in the Western Athletic Conference so far this season.
This game started as a barn burner as the two sides combined for 49 points on 12-22 shooting from long range in the first quarter. The Lancers as a unit nearly set a new season high in threes made, previously set at nine, in the opening frame, hitting seven of their 13 treys in the first ten minutes. Things cooled down significantly for both teams in the second half, but it was still smooth sailing for the Lancers, who held a 39-30 advantage at halftime.
CBU would win the third quarter again, outscoring CSUN 21-16 and using a late 9-0 run to reach their highest lead of the season, 17 points. The Lancers would keep the lead around that mark until the 4:20 mark in the fourth when former CBU lieutenant Angei Ned, now CSUN's head coach, circled the wagons and pressed her squad into the rally of a lifetime. The Matadors would dominate the final four minutes of the contest with a 20-5 run that included three converted and-one situations. Bosch Duran would interrupt the CSUN scoring flurry with a layup at 2:41, and Tu'ua would convert one of two free throws with 1:06 left to give the Lancers a bit of breathing room.
After trailing by 17 in the fourth quarter, CSUN would connect on a three-pointer and a layup inside of a minute to tie the game at 71-all, forcing head coach Jarrod Olson to call a timeout. Eventually, the ball would get into the former Matador's hands, and Tu'ua would pump fake, turn, rise up, and fade away from the block, banking in the game-winner with less than a second left on the clock.
The Lances return home and put their newly obtained win streak on the line this Saturday as UC San Diego comes to town. The Lancers have had the Tritons' number recently, winning the past three matchups between these two squads since 2021, including a 14-point victory last season in La Jolla. Tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m. at the Fowler Events Center.
