PHOENIX - For the second time, California Baptist University women's basketball is the cream of the Western Athletic Conference crop. After clinching at least a portion of the 2023-24 regular season title at home on Thursday night, the Lancers clinched the outright championship with the program's first-ever win at Grand Canyon, 85-81, in overtime. They close the regular season with a 26-3 record, 18-2 in conference, and a seven-game win streak.
It was a full team effort on Saturday, with six players scoring in double-figures, led by likely Player of the Year
Chloe Webb, who posted a game-high 22. She made it her eighth double-double of the season as well, adding ten boards to the equation in 31 foul-limited minutes of work.
Nhug Bosch Duran and
Anaiyah Tu'ua each added 16 points to the box score with a team-high four three-pointers and six assists, respectively. The senior down low,
Kinsley Barrington, put up 10 points with six boards and a block.
Khloe Lemon returned to the lineup on Saturday and wasted no time finding her form, draining the first shot she took, a three-pointer, and closing the contest with 11 points.
Nae Nae Calhoun posted her sixth game in double-digits in the past seven with ten points, adding five boards, four assists, and a steal.
The Lopes would open the game with the first bucket, but that 2-0 advantage would be their last lead of the day. Five first-quarter three-pointers helped the Lancers quickly build a lead of a dozen in the opening frame, ending the quarter with a 25-19 lead.
The second quarter was the Chloe and Khloe show, as the freshman-senior combo scored all 12 of CBU's points. Each went for half a dozen in different manners as Lemon opened the period with three straight layups while Webb closed the quarter going 4-4 from the stripe with one field goal. The Lancer defense would clamp down in the second, allowing GCU to go just 2-11 from the field, leading to CBU owning a ten-point lead at the half.
The Lopes would return from the break with a new fire and cut the Lancer lead to just four with just over two minutes left in the third. In the final 122
seconds of the period, CBU would go on a 7-0 run, five of which came from Webb, with Bosch Duran burying a three with 36 seconds left to get CBU back up by 11.
A drastic shift happened in the fourth as GCU came alive offensively, chipping away at the Lancer lead until the media timeout when they went on a 9-1 run to make
it a one-point game with 10 seconds to go. Bosch Duran hit her bonus free throws with eight ticks left on the clock, but yet again, Naya Evans came through for the Lopes when they needed her most, draining her first three-pointer of the game with 3.6 seconds left in regulation. CBU would draw up a play during a timeout but couldn't see it through, setting up overtime.
The Lancers wasted no time building a cushion as Calhoun and Tu'ua gave CBU a four-point lead within 30 seconds of the start of overtime. The Lopes began going for threes to make up extra ground but only shot 3-7 from distance in the extra time, resulting in the Lancers pulling away early. The free throw contest began with two minutes to go, but CBU was up for the challenge, going 10-10 from the charity stripe, with Calhoun draining the final six to seal the victory for the Lancers.
As the 1-seed for the upcoming WAC Tournament, CBU has earned a double-bye, meaning they will play again on Friday at noon. They will face the 4/5/8-seed depending on the results from Wednesday and Thursday. That semi-final game will be live on ESPN+.
