California Baptist University
6-6,0-0WAC
University of Denver
6-7,0-0Summit League
CBU Drops Road Game in Denver Despite Season Best Performance from Grace Schmidt
12/19/2025 3:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball
DENVER, CO--- The California Baptist University women's basketball game dropped game one of its two-game road trip on Friday afternoon, falling to Denver 76-71. The loss evens the Lancers' record at 6-6, while the Pioneers earn their sixth win of the season.
CBU had to play this game without the services of two of its regular starters, with both Chance Bucher and CeCe Legaspi sitting out with nagging injuries. Offense was at a premium to start the game, with both the Lancers and Pioneers scoring under 20 points in the first quarter. The game was back and forth throughout the opening 20 minutes, with the largest lead being only four by the Pioneers on a few different occasions. CBU outshot the Pioneers 48%-38%; however, Denver would make up the ground by outscoring the Lancers by 15 from the perimeter and by five at the free-throw line.
Senior Forward Grace Schmidt, in just her second game back from injury, carried the Lancer offense in the first half with 13 points on 6/7 shooting from the floor. Schmidt's low-post presence kept CBU in the game; however, it was the Pioneers who led 37-33 at the half.
The Lancers opened the second half on a 7-0 run, capitalized by a Lauren Olsen triple that would give them their first lead since it was 14-13 in the first quarter. The Pioneers responded with back-to-back triples to retake the lead, but CBU continued to hang in with Denver through the entirety of the period. The Lancers trailed by six early in the fourth quarter, but CBU continued to battle their way back into the ball game, and a Shawnee Nordstrom layup at 4:55 would tie the game at 65 apiece.
Emma Johansson would give CBU the lead on two different occasions down the stretch as the Lancers looked to complete the comeback. Denver would once again look to its three-point arsenal and find the bottom of the net on consecutive possessions under two minutes to give itself a three-point lead. Both teams went scoreless for nearly a minute in the closing seconds as the defenses tightened their formations. Denver would force a Lancer miss with 12 seconds remaining and would close the game out at the charity stripe for the 76-71 victory.
Despite the loss, Grace Schmidt had herself a phenomenal performance off the bench with a season-high 22 points on 77% shooting, all in just 25 minutes. The Ixonia, Wisconsin native missed the first ten games of the season with a lingering knee injury, but made her debut against UCSD on Monday. Nordstrom also had a career day, scoring a personal best 15 points in her first start of the season. Emma Johansson would be the final Lancer in double-digits with 12 points and seven rebounds on 75% shooting from the floor.
NEXT: The Lancers will finalize its non-conference schedule Sunday afternoon against #23 Nebraska in Lincoln for an 11 AM CT tip-off.
