Warriors cruise in GSAC tourney opener

The Westmont women’s basketball team wasn’t about to let a 4-game losing streak carry over into the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament.

“We’ve been struggling a little bit lately, but we knew what we wanted to get back to and I think we did just that tonight,” said Jessica Case, who scored 18 points in Wednesday’s 87-73 first-round win over The Master’s at Murchison Gym.

Angel Blanco also scored 18 and had a game-high 10 rebounds on the night for the 17th-ranked Warriors, who will play at No. 8 Point Loma Nazarene in the semifinals on Friday.Westmont (22-7) played a dominant first half against the Mustangs (16-14), a dangerous opponent which received votes in the latest NAIA poll. Westmont won the battle of the boards 21-9 in the period, including 11 offensive rebounds.

BOX SCORE

  or PHOTO GALLERY

“We just got out-rebounded so badly in the last couple of games that it’s all we’ve been talking about,” said coach Kirsten Moore. “Crashing the boards offensively just showed the level of intensity we had tonight.”

Katie Kittle hit three treys before halftime, scoring 11 of her 14 points, and Amber Stevens dished out four assists before a breakaway lay-up at the halftime buzzer that pushed the lead to 48-30.

Blanco pulled down an offensive board early in the second half and put it back in to give the Warriors their biggest lead of the game, 57-32, but the Mustangs chipped away down the stretch. Erica Inge, Amanda Durocher and Stacy Nanninga – who each finished with 14 points – led the charge as the visitors got the lead as low as eight with 3:17 to go.

The Warriors, however, made all eight of their free throws from that point forward to close it out. In fact, they went a remarkable 24-for-26 on the night and The Master’s was 20-for-23.

Moore put in a handful of reserves in the final minute, and freshman Paige Narum added a coast-to-coast lay-up with 12 seconds left that gave everyone on the bench a big smile.

“She’s gonna be a great player here. She can really play,” said Moore.

They’ll need those kind of positive vibes against Point Loma (24-5), at team which no current player or coach in the Westmont women’s program has ever defeated.

“We’ve come close a couple of times and just had a letdown. We definitely believe we can beat them, and we just have to keep believing,” said Case.