CBU Sweep, Rivalry Sweep, and a Shocking Upset
Thursday night had some wild finishes, a couple of sweeps, and a big time upset.
Finally…the snow didn’t stop me from getting home safely. I love the mountains in the Beehive State along I-15. So beautiful, especially when covered in snow. The wild part is that you can drive past one town where it looks like there was no snow at all and 10 miles later, you are in a blizzard.
It is a pretty wild time along I-15 during the winter.
The drive home on this Friday was almost as wild as Thursday night around the Western Athletic Conference.
There was a big time upset that threw a wrench in some regular season title aspirations. That was followed by some wild finishes in Arlington, St. George, and Riverside.
And there was also the news that the WAC’s leading scorer was out for the night in a matchup of two teams that were red hot coming in.
Wild ride, indeed.
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Now, let’s get back to Thursday night.
A Lancer Sweep in Equally Thrilling Ways
The California Baptist Lancers had a nice Thursday in WAC play. The Lancer women won in a much different way than the Lancer men.
Both teams won on the final possession against the UT Arlington Mavs and Lady Mavs.
So, what was the difference if both wins were in equally thrilling ways?
First, in the women’s game, it was a track meet between the Lancers and Lady Mavs.
186 points were scored. There was a combined 23 made 3-pointers. 44 fouls were called. Two players fouled out. Two technicals were called. And there were 10 lead changes.
But, the ball game came down to the final possession. After Taliyah Clark missed a jumper, California Baptist got one last crack to win the ball game.
If you have watched the Lancers, you knew that the play Olson was going to draw up was most likely going to Chloe Webb. Everyone at College Park Center knew that.
And the WAC Player of the Year candidate did not disappoint. Webb dribbled through defenders, found some space, and hit a floater in the lane to give the Lancers a 94-92 win.
In the men’s game, it was a dunk to end the first half that changed the trajectory of the contest in Riverside.
Hunter Goodrick lost his defender, drove to the paint and threw down a one-handed dunk to end the first half.
And CBU rode the wave of energy from there. Sure, the game still came down to the final possession as CBU missed free throws.
But, out of the halftime locker room, the Lancers used a 9-0 run to take control. All without WAC leading score Dominique Daniels Jr. who was out with a knee injury.
It was ugly. It was slow. And it was exactly what CBU needed to do to slow down the Mavs, who lead the league in made 3-pointers per game.
The Lancers held UT Arlington to just two made 3-pointers in the contest. And it was a missed 3-pointer by Phillip Russell as time expired that allowed CBU to walk away with a 64-63 win.
Thrilling ball games but each in very different ways.
However you slice it, the Lancers got a season sweep of UT Arlington with the wins on Thursday.
Trailblazers Sweep I-15 Rivalry
Utah Tech and Southern Utah is going to become one of the best rivalries in college sports. 50 miles separate the two schools. That is eerily similar to Utah and BYU. Now, don’t get me wrong…this rivalry will never match the rivalry between the Utes and Cougars.
But, it is growing into something special for fans of both schools.
On Thursday, the Trailblazers got the best of their rivals to the North.
Breaunna Gillen and Maddie Warren were on their game for JD Gustin’s crew in an 87-77 win at America First Events Center. The Trailblazers led 6-0 out of the gate and never relinquished the lead in a season sweep of the Thunderbirds.
Beon Riley returned for Jon Judkins after missing four weeks with an ankle injury suffered in a win over SFA on Jan. 11. And Riley made his presence felt immediately. A 3-pointer, an offensive rebound that led to a 3-pointer and so much more. In just 13 first-half minutes, Riley had 13 points and 7 rebounds.
But, in rivalry games, it is never over until the final buzzer sounds. Utah Tech led by 11 at Burns Arena with 1:38 to play. Southern Utah took advantage of missed free throws and turnovers to make it a two-point game with eight seconds to play.
After a foul was overturned because Unisa Turay appeared to be out of bounds before the foul call, Southern Utah had one last chance. In and out went Dom Ford’s game-winning 3-point shot and the Trailblazers escaped.
It is a wild rivalry. On the men’s side, neither team has won on the other team’s home floor. On the women’s side, it is normally a season sweep. Southern Utah has done it twice while this is the first season Utah Tech has swept the series.
Shocking Upset in South Texas
Four wins. That is amount of wins the UTRGV women’s basketball team had coming into Thursday night. Three of those four wins have come during WAC play.
Well, led by Kade Hackerott’s 17-point, 11-rebound double-double, the Vaqueros now have five wins and improved to 4-8 in WAC play after a 62-49 win over the SFA Ladyjacks at UTRGV Fieldhouse.
The upset is shocking. SFA was 15-7 overall and 9-2 in WAC play. In fact, the Ladyjacks were right in the mix for the regular season title and still have host both of the teams ahead of them in the standings later in February.
But, now, the Ladyjacks may need some help. Despite Kurstyn Harden’s game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds, the Ladyjacks never led in Edinburg.
UTRGV got off to a 9-1 start and never relinquished the lead in a rather impressive upset win.