RIVERSIDE -- The California Baptist University women's basketball team executed its first offensive possession to perfection, as the Lancers moved the ball around before Emma Johansson sank a 3-pointer from the right wing 24 seconds into the game.
Unfortunately for the Lancers, it took 36 minutes and 51 seconds before another player connected from behind the arc.
California Baptist drained 55 shots from long range across their first five Western Athletic Conference games, but the Lancers made only 2 of 25 from distance Wednesday and dropped a 70-58 decision to Abilene Christian at the Fowler Events Center.
The loss was CBU's first in conference play, but the Lancers are still a half game ahead of Abilene Christian in the standings.
CBU (11-8, 5-1 in the WAC) missed 19 straight attempts from 3-point range before Lauren Olsen nailed one with 2:45 to play.
"We had good looks. We just weren't tough enough to knock them down," Lancers coach Jarrod Olson said about his team's shooting woes Wednesday. "... There are going to be games that are decided by which team is going to be a little bit tougher when things aren't going well. Abilene played harder and outworked us on loose balls and overall were just tougher than us."
Wednesday's contest was CBU's annual "Education Day Game," so the Fowler Events Center was filled to near capacity with a few thousand enthusiastic elementary and middle school students. Abilene Christian, however, was not fazed by the noise.
"This was our third 'elementary kid day' so far this season, and we are undefeated in (those) games," Abilene Christian coach Julie Goodenough said. "The past two days, we just blasted our stereo and cranked up the music so our players would have to talk louder and had to listen better. This crowd knew to cheer for Cal Baptist. We've played other games where (the kids) just cheered for whoever was playing the best. This was a pro-Cal Baptist crowd, but I think our kids played off that energy."
Johansson's 3-pointer on the opening possession was the only time CBU held a lead. Abilene Christian (13-5, 4-1) outscored the Lancers 19-9 the rest of the first period. Natalia Chavez sank two 3-pointers and Payton Hull drained another to spark the run.
CBU scored the first four points of the second quarter, prompting Goodenough to call a timeout. The Wildcats answered with a 20-5 run over the next 8-plus minutes to take a 43-25 lead at halftime. Erin Woodson scored 12 points during the run.
The Lancers went on a 10-2 run to start the second half, cutting the deficit to 11 points with 6:48 remaining in third period. Goodenough called another timeout, and the Wildcats responded once again with a 10-0 run that pushed their lead to 56-35.
"Every team is different. Some teams are terrible after timeouts and others will lock in," Goodenough said. "I've learned to just talk to them, even if I'm super angry. Just talk, make an adjustment and convince them that whatever I'm asking them to do is about the work. And they responded really well today."
CBU finally found some rhythm on offense near the end of the third quarter. The Lancers went on a 12-0 run to trim the deficit to 56-47 with 5:13 to play and later put together an 11-4 run to get within 62-58 with 1:10 showing on the clock.
Johansson and Olsen combined to score 13 points during those two runs that gave the Lancers a chance to win at the end.
Emma Troxell leaked out behind CBU's full-court pressure and scored an uncontested layup with 57 seconds left, and Abilene Christian made all six of its free-throw attempts in the final minute to seal the victory.
"We did a good job rallying there at the end," Olson said. "But that's been a problem for us. We're good at the rally, but we're digging ourselves too big of a hole at times. ... As much as we tried to climb out today, they just kept pushing us back down."
Olsen scored 19 points, and Johansson added 15 points, six rebounds and six blocked shots for CBU.
Woodson scored a game-high 23 points for Abilene Christian. Chavez and Hull added 20 and 15 points, respectively.