Westmont women’s basketball fell behind early and never caught up as #19 ranked Azusa Pacific (21-9, 12-8 GSAC) defeated the #17 Warriors by a score of 76-55 in Azusa on Monday night. With the loss, the Warriors fall to 21-7 overall and 13-7 in Golden State Athletic Conference play.
The Warriors had trouble containing Kristie Hala’ufia, who recorded 24 points and 17 rebounds. Alex Moore-Porter posted 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Westmont was led in scoring by Jessica Case with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. Amber Stevens tallied 10 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists.
The game brought to an end the GSAC regular season with Westmont claiming third place in the conference and the number three seed in the upcoming GSAC Tournament.
In other conference action, #2 Vanguard (26-3, 19-1) defeated California Baptist (17-13, 9-11) in Riverside by a score of 62-58. #23 Biola (11-9, 19-10) defeated Hope International (1-27, 0-20) at home by a score of 95-48. In Santa Clarita, The Master’s (16-13, 11-9) needed overtime to defeated Fresno Pacific by a 67-63 margin. Concordia (14-14, 7-13) also won, defeating San Diego Christian (5-23, 2-18) on the road 69-57.
As a result of tonight’s games, Westmont will host The Master’s, the GSAC’s number six seed, in the first round of the GSAC Tournament on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. This is the third year in a row the two teams have met in the first round of the GSAC Tournament with the Warriors winning in 2006 and the Mustangs in 2007. Westmont won both meetings this season, defeating The Master’s 75-61 in Santa Clarita on January 10 and 72-62 in Murchison Gymnasium on February 14.
Vanguard is the tournament’s top-seed and will host eighth-seeded Fresno Pacific. Point Loma Nazarene, the number two seed, will host seventh-seeded California Baptist. Azusa Pacific, which earned the fourth seed by virtue of tonight’s win, will host Biola, the fifth seed. All games will be played on Wednesday evening.
The winner of the Westmont-The Master’s game will take on the winner of the Point Loma Nazarene-California Baptist game on Friday, March 6 in the semifinals. The location will be at the home of the highest remaining seed. The GSAC Championship game will be played on Monday, March 9.
