RIVERSIDE — The California Baptist University women’s basketball team trailed by 20 points during the third quarter Thursday, and Lancers coach Jarrod Olson started throwing everything but the kitchen sink in an attempt to slow down Southern Utah. However, no matter what combination of players O lson put on the floor, the Lancers could not work their way out of that hole. Junior forward Brooklyn Fely finished with a career-high 31 points and added a game-high 13 rebounds as Southern Utah posted a wire-to-wire 85-70 victory over California Baptist in a Western Athletic Conference game played at the Fowler Events Center. The 85 points is the most allowed by CBU in WAC play this season. Southern Utah made 32 of 60 shots from the field (53.3 %). The silver lining for the Lancers (16-9 overall, 10-2 in WAC) following the loss is they remain atop the conference standings, but their lead now is one game over Abilene Christian (18-7, 9-3) and two games over Southern Utah (16-8, 8-4) with six left to play. “Southern Utah moved the ball very well, and their cutting and movement without the ball gave us a lot of problems,” Olson said. “Nothing they did surprised us. We covered all of it during the week, but when we got out there we weren’t up to the challenge.” Fely and Ava Uhrich each drained a pair of 3-pointers as Southern Utah grabbed a 16-6 lead midway through the opening period. “I think we came ready to play, and it helped hitting a few 3s at the start,” Thunderbirds coach Tracy Mason said. “That opened up some things for us and allowed us to get to the basket. We wanted to be movers, and we did that and got some great back cuts.” CBU rallied and cut the deficit to 22-17 at quarter’s end with a combined 11 points from Shawnee Nordstrom and Khloe Lemon. In the first meeting, an 82-77 overtime win by the Lancers, Grace Schmidt and Emma Johansson dominated the paint, scoring a combined 44 points on 18-of-33 shooting. Johansson finished with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting while adding six rebounds and five blocks Thursday evening, but Southern Utah’s defense frustrated Schmidt and held her to four points and 2-of-10 shooting. “We kept giving up ground against her (Schmidt), but this time we did a better job taking away their favorite thing,” Mason said. Southern Utah led only 30-26 midway through the second period, but the Thunderbirds closed the opening half with a 16-6 run. Morgan Trigueiro came off the bench and sank a pair of 3-pointers in that run, and Uhrich added six points for the Thunderbirds. Devyn Kiernan knocked down a pair of 3-pointers early in the third period, helping Southern Utah extend its advantage to 57-37. CBU chipped at the deficit and scored the final six points of the third quarter to get back within 65-54 with 10 minutes left to play. Two things are needed to complete a big comeback: points and defensive stops. The Lancers struggled with the latter Thursday. Trigueiro drained another 3-pointer, helping Southern Utah push the lead up to 16 points and making CBU’s climb even tougher. “Those are crushers,’ Olson said of Southern Utah’s mini-runs to start the third and fourth quarters. “You rally the troops together between quarters and the first thing that happens goes against you. Everything we just talked about went right down the tubes.” The closest CBU got down the stretch was nine points, when Khloe Lemon scored a layup to make it 79-70 with 1:15 left to play. Fely and Kiernan each made a pair of free throws in the final minute to seal the victory for Southern Utah. Lauren Olsen finished with 16 points to lead the way for CBU, while Lemon and Nordstrom each added 15 points for the Lancers. Filipa Barros tallied seven points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Uhrich scored 21 points for Southern Utah, while Kiernan and Trigueiro had 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Thunderbirds. The teams will square off for a third time in the regular-season finale March 7 in Riverside. “We’re starting Round 3, and nobody knows how that’s going to go because nobody’s ever done a Round 3 before,” Olson said. “If we’re good enough to win this thing, we’ll win it. You have to win the games. We’ve won 10, but it’s probably going to take 15.” Related Articles USC women beat Indiana to extend win streak to 5 games Lauren Betts, No. 2 UCLA overpower No. 13 Michigan State Alijah Arenas has another big game, but USC loses to Ohio State USC women ‘locked in’ on strong Big Ten finish Jazzy Davidson, Kennedy Smith lead USC women to win at Illinois ...read more read less