SEATTLE - Sophomore sharpshooter Khloe Lemon made her 2024-25 season debut in Seattle on Saturday and posted a game-high 18 points to lead California Baptist women's basketball to a conference-opening victory. The win gives the Lancers 10 straight victories over the Redhawks and five consecutive seasons with a win to begin conference play.
Lemon wasted no time getting her game legs under her as she was effective and efficient, shooting 4-7 from the field, 3-4 from distance, and a perfect 7-7 from the charity stripe in just 20 minutes of work off the bench. Lemon was one of five Lancers to post double-digit points alongside Nhug Bosch Duran (15), Emma Johansson (13), Grace Schmidt (12), and Anaiyah Tu'ua (10). The senior guard Tu'ua posted a milestone achievement against Seattle, breaking the double-digit assist mark for the first time in her career to secure her second double-double as a Lancer.
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Both teams shot well on the day, each posting a percentage comfortably over 40% from the field, but it would be the Lancers' superior accuracy from deep that ultimately differentiated the two sides as CBU went 11-28 (39.3%) compared to Seattle's 7-21 (33.3%) effort. Neither team was particularly secure in their ball handling on Saturday, with 41 combined turnovers split nearly evenly.
Seattle took control of the action early and held onto that advantage throughout the first half with a few flashes of a slight CBU lead before the Redhawks took a 41-37 lead into the halftime break. Lemon broke out after the half, scoring 12 of her 18 points in the third quarter alone. She would go on a solo 9-0 run to end the period, which included a four-point play and another three-pointer with less than four seconds left to give CBU a six-point lead going into the fourth.
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The Redhawks would pull back within two in the game's final moments, but Duran and
Claudia Fiel would go on a 5-1 run in the final 78 seconds to seal the victory.
The Lancers will open home conference play next week on Saturday, January 11, when they welcome Utah Valley to the Fowler Events Center for a 12:00 p.m. matinee tip. The Wolverines also began the Western Athletic Conference slate with a road win, using two overtimes to take down Abilene Christian in Texas, 64-63.
