WBB: California Baptist University Lancers 2025-26 Season Preview
A year after sweeping both titles CBU struggled with the injury bug and missed postseason for the first time since 2020, when COVID cancelled all postseason play. Can the Lancers bounce back?
Injuries.
That was the story of 2024-2025 for then defending champion CBU as the Lancers had players coming and going from their lineup but still managed to get to nine wins in WAC play.
There were bright spots like CeCe Legaspi earning WAC Freshman of the Year honors and Khloe Lemon being named to the all-WAC Second Team after missing half of her sophomore campaign.
But the Lancers find themselves looking to bounce back after their first losing campaign as a Division I member.
Head Coach:
Jarrod Olson (14th season at CBU, 22nd year as a head coach)
Last Year:
12-19 overall, 9-7 WAC (T4th, lost in WAC tournament quarterfinal to UT Arlington)
Career Record:
432-212 overall, 238-94 conference
At CBU: 145-73 overall, 85-33 conference
Returners:
6
Khloe Lemon- Averaged 18.5 points on 48.5 percent field goal shooting (43.9 percent from 3-point range) and 3.9 rebounds per game over half the campaign. Set a career-high in scoring with 39 points against Utah Valley in mid-January and also in that game set the program record for made 3-pointers with 11. Was named to the all-WAC second team.
Grace Schmidt- Averaged 13.5 points and 7 rebounds per game in coming back from a sophomore campaign that was shortened by an MCL tear at Christmas Break. Set a career-mark for scoring against Pepperdine with 34 points in her third game back and recorded four other 20+ point performances.
Emma Johansson- Was the WAC’s leader in blocked shots last year and the only Lancer to appear in all 31 games, making 23 starts. Third on the team in made 3-pointers. Also won a WAC Newcomer of the Week award
Filipa Barros- Appeared in two games before using a medical redshirt. Was second on the team in scoring during the 2023-2024 season at 12.3 points per game on 39 percent field goal shooting. Also second in rebounds, third in assists, and second in steals that year.
Shawnee Nordstrom- Had five double-digit scoring performances over the course of her first season in Riverside with a high of 13 points on 3-5 3-pointers against Seattle U.
CeCe Legaspi- Was last year’s WAC Freshman of the Year. Scored a career-high 12 points three times and also was second on the team in rebounding.
Newcomers:
7
Sofia Alonso- Entered 12 games last year before suffering a season-ending injury just before Christmas, making four starts. Had 30 assists in 10 games against DI opponents and was 6-14 on 3-pointers during one week in mid-November against future Big West opponents Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton.
Paula Haw- Entered 11 total games while at Sacramento State. At 6’5” she’ll be counted on to give Schmidt some help in the paint, averaged nearly four rebounds per game in her seven appearances in 2023-2024.
Chance Bucher- Bucher, who has Division I experience at Portland, spent last season at Eckerd College and racked up the accolades at the DII level including a WBCA Honorable Mention and being named to the DII CCA (Collegiate Communicators Association) South Region Second Team. Averaged 15.1 points and 7.3 rebounds a game while shooting nearly 40 percent from 3-point range.
Aleyah Harmon- Scored just under 1,500 points at the HS level and had 140 or more assists in each of her last three prep season. Was part of a section championship team in her sophomore season and semifinal appearance as a senior.
Reyleigh Hess- A three time HS all-conference selection while at Windsor High School who upped her scoring from 8.5 to 13.5 points per game from freshman to junior years. Also averaged just under seven rebounds per game, 2.6 assists, and 2.9 steals per game for the three years of HS play in MaxPreps.
Lauren Olsen- Won four basketball state titles along with one in volleyball while at Douglas High School (Wyoming). Scored just under 2,700 points in high school while shooting 49 percent (32 percent 3-pointers) and coming up with four steals per game.
Marta de la Fuente- A 5’ 7” guard who continues the Riverside/Spain pipeline. Most recently played for Spar Gran Canaria in the Spanish club system.
Key Losses:
Nhug Bosch Duran (Graduation)- 10.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists per game on 39 percent field goal shooting.
Anaiyah Tu’ua (Graduation)- 10.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.8 assists per game (15th nationally last season)
Claudia Fiel (Portal-Transfer to Iona)-5.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists per game
Outlook:
If CBU can stay healthy the Lancers have what it takes to be title contenders in their last campaign before moving over to the Big West next July.
Lemon will be in the Player of the Year discussion come WAC Basketball Media Days during October.
In a recent episode of the Straight Outta WAC Podcast head coach Jarrod Olson said that his team’s ability to get on the defensive glass and an overall commitment to being better defensively will be key to them getting back to the top of the WAC standings.
CBU last year was seventh in scoring defense, sixth in defensive field goal percentage, seventh in 3-point percentage defense, and ninth in steals. The Lancers were also first in defensive rebounds per game and defensive rebounding percentage.
Scheduling Tidbits:
CBU starts the 2025 season by hosting UC Riverside in the Crosstown Showdown, resumed after a three-year hiatus. The Lancers have won all but one game in the series since making their move to Division I in 2018.
The Lancers then hit the road for a pair of contests against WNIT participant Pacific, who also won a pair of games in the WCC tournament, and Long Beach State.
Following that trip is a four-game homestand which includes the CBU Classic as the Lancers host their first tournament in the Division I era. The Lancers will welcome Sacramento State, Chattanooga, and UCSB to Riverside for that post-Thanksgiving gathering.
Starting that homestand are visits from San Jose State and CSUN. When CSUN makes the trip it’ll be a reunion as former assistant Angie Ned (now in her second year as Matador head coach) and former player Brittany Klaman (now Dybala, a first year CSUN assistant) return to Fowler Events Center. The first edition of the reunion was a Lancer victory on a buzzer-beater by Anaiyah Tu’ua.
CBU finishes non-conference play with four of their last six away from Riverside. They’ll visit Pepperdine, Boise State, and UC Irvine over a ten day stretch before hosting Denver and UC San Diego. The game against Nebraska on December 21 in Lincoln, a homecoming for Olson and Khloe Lemon, will serve as their non-conference finale.
The non-conference schedule in total consists of three WNIT squads from a season ago and two NCAA tournament teams.
In WAC play the Lancers ended up with a pair of three-game homestands…hosting Utah Valley, UT Arlington, and Tarleton State over a six day span to open conference play and then Southern Utah, Utah Tech, and Utah Valley in mid-February.
They’ll finish February with the Texas swing…visiting UT Arlington, Tarleton State, and ACU over an eight day stretch and come home to host Southern Utah in the regular season finale.