California Baptist Falls to Rice in WNIT Third Round Matchup
FORT WORTH, Texas – The historic California Baptist season has finally come to a close as they fell 55-79 to Rice in the Third Round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament.
The Lancers (26-1) struggled early as they fell 14 points behind Rice (21-4) to start the game. The Lancers looked more like themselves in the second quarter as they nailed four three-pointers. Meanwhile, after a 25-point first quarter, the Owl offense cooled off but still carried a 10-point advantage into the break.
The second half belonged to Rice as its offense proved to be too much for CBU, finishing with 40 second-half points to earn the win. California Baptist was led by 14 points from Caitlyn Harper while Britney Thomas added 12 points and seven rebounds. The Owls' top scorer was Lauren Schwartz who finished with 20 points while adding six rebounds and five assists. Three other Rice scorers reached double digits, including Nancy Mulkey who posted 16 points to go along with eight rebounds.
With the win, Rice advances to the WNIT Semifinals as they will meet up with Delaware in Collierville, Tenn., for an opportunity to play for the WNIT Championship.