When players suffer injuries, they sometimes pick things up that they didn’t see before. Sitting on the sidelines gives them a perspective on the game that maybe wasn’t as apparent when they’re on the court. For California Baptist junior guard Khloe Lemon, it allowed her to grow stronger in her faith.
After a solid freshman year in which she played a pivotal role in Cal Baptist’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, Lemon was sidelined for the entirety of the Lancers’ nonconference schedule for the 2024-25 season.
She returned to the court for the team’s first Western Athletic Conference game, picking up where she left off by dropping 18 points in a win against Seattle. She also had a newfound sense of self.
“I feel like being out for that duration of time allowed me to kind of find my identity outside of basketball, which correlated with my relationship with Jesus Christ,” Lemon told The IX Sports. “He showed me a lot during the journey and that he ultimately gives me the ability to do what I love.
”Just a lot of things going back to him. … I’m just grateful for the opportunity that he’s given me. I’m just continuing to honor him and play my game for him.”
And Lemon certainly has played her game since returning from injury. Last season, she put up career numbers of 18.5 points, 48.3% shooting from the field and 43.9% shooting from the 3-point line as a starter.
This season, she’s one of the Lancers’ top five scorers at 10.0 points per game while shooting 43.4% from the field. Although she’s moved out of the starting lineup, she was one of the most productive reserves in the WAC en route to winning the conference’s Sixth Player of the Year Award.
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While it’s been a little bit of an adjustment to go from starting to joining the second unit, it boils down to doing what’s best for the team.
”This role is definitely different than the role that I had last year, but I fully embraced it,” Lemon said. “… I was able to do whatever my team needed. If that was a spark off the bench and helping us win games, I was gonna do it. [Head coach] Jarrod [Olson] and I have had many conversations about it. I’m just supposed to be part of this team and be able to help.”
It’s that “whatever it takes” mentality that’s made Lemon such a key part of Cal Baptist’s success. She plays her role to perfection with a winning attitude that rubs off on the entire team.
She’s made strides in her on-court game, but Cal Baptist head coach Jarrod Olson has seen the most growth in her off the court over the past couple of seasons.
“Just kind of maturing and just kind of growing in ways where you can see it,” Olson told reporters on Friday. “… When it wasn’t going perfect for her, still being a great teammate. When she was a freshman, she was a big contributor for us, and she’s had some big games for us this year, but there’s been some games where she didn’t get to play as much. Just having that attitude that you’re going to put the team first has really gone a long way to setting a good example for other people.”
Lemon is one of the team’s upperclassmen and among the longest-tenured players on the team. Coming into this season, it seemed natural that she’d be called upon to take more of a leadership role. She has a naturally outgoing personality, so stepping into that role wasn’t as big of an adjustment. She enjoys being vocal and lifting her teammates up.
“My freshman year, I had a lot of leaders around me, so I took a lot from what they showed me. I do feel like on the court, I like to be a vocal leader,” Lemon said. “I like to be the ‘fire,’ as Coach calls it. Just get the players going and give us hope in games, especially when we’re low vibrations. I feel like I can be the spark plug and give us energy that we need in order to compete at a high level.”
She’s unique when it comes to being able to uplift the team and infuse it with energy when needed.
“The other thing about Khloe is she is just one of those people that just emits energy out,” Olson said. “I can’t really explain it. She’s got a lot of charisma to her; she just brings lot of swag to our team.”
Although 2024 was Cal Baptist’s first NCAA Tournament appearance, the Lancers had won the WAC Tournament back in 2021. They just weren’t eligible for the NCAA Tournament then because they were transitioning from Division II to Division I.
Olson has been building the culture of the program for the past 14 years. He took over when Cal Baptist was still an NAIA program. He’s turned the Lancers into a perennial contender in the WAC, and for the past three seasons, Lemon has been a part of that consistency.
“I feel like him being at CBU for such a long period of time has established a lot within us as players and just a lot within his system,” Lemon said. “Just trusting him and trusting his plan because time after time we’ve found success, from my freshman year all the way up to my junior year. Him having an idea of the way we play and not changing for anyone helps us thrive and trust in him.”
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The Lancers have a daunting task ahead. They are up against the UCLA Bruins in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. And they have history up against them. Only one No. 16 seed has ever beaten a No. 1 seed in the women’s tournament (Harvard over Stanford in 1998).
But Lemon loves this group and loves the connectedness it has established throughout the season.
“This group has a lot of personality, and we have a lot of different opinions and different ideas. So it’s good for us to bounce them off each other and strategize and give our thoughts,” Lemon said. “We don’t believe that one way is the best way. I feel like when we all have our own opinion about something, it’s good for the team to hear that out and just play together [and] use all of our strengths together.”
Looking for more March Madness stories? Read all our NCAA Tournament coverage at The IX Sports.
