A night of cold shooting proved to be the Warriors’ undoing as No. 14 Westmont Women’s Basketball suffered a 79-67 loss at California Baptist on Tuesday night. The Warriors shot just 35.3 percent from the floor (24 of 66) and 23.8 percent from three point range (5 of 21). Even the free throw line showed little charity to the Warriors who made just 14 of 22 attempts (63.6 percent).
On the other hand, the Lancers made 29 of 64 attempts from the floor (45.3 percent) and 7 of 17 from three point range (41.2 percent). California Baptist also took control of the boards, posting 52 rebounds compared to Westmont’s 41.
“Cal Baptist played well together and played hard,” acknowledged Westmont Head Coach Kirsten Moore. “In spurts we played well, but we didn’t have the consistency we needed tonight.”
The contest started even enough with the two teams trading baskets to produce a 6-6 tie a little over three minutes into the game. But an 8-0 Lancer run left the Warriors in a 14-6 hole with 11:22 remaining in the first half. Westmont missed 15 straight field goal attempts before freshman post player Tawny McCain finally scored on a layup for the Warriors.
Alyson Haley answered for the Lancers, but Tawny recorded two more baskets to ignite a 10-2 Warrior run that tied the game at 18 with 6:43 to play before intermission. California Baptist’s Megan Bradford struck from beyond the arc before Westmont freshman Vanessa Farias replied in kind to tie the game at 21. After a layup by the Lancers’ Brenna Hahn, Farias nailed another from downtown, giving Westmont its first lead of the night (24-23) with 4:19 left in first-half play.
A steal and fast break layup by senior point guard Amber Stevens on the next possession led to a 26-23 Warrior advantage. Once more the two teams traded three-pointers with Hahn connecting for the Lancers and Jessica Case draining the long-distance bucket for the Warriors.
In the final minute and 18 seconds of the half, however, the Lancers produced a 9-0 run to take a 37-29 advantage into the locker room.
Westmont pulled to within six early in the second half, but California Baptist would not allow the Warriors to get any closer. The Lancers slowly began to pull away until they reached their largest lead of the night (60-43) on a three-pointer by Hahn with 11:08 to play.
“We out rebounded them in the first half (27-25),” noted Moore, “but they out-toughed us on the boards in the second half (27-14).”
Angel Blanco led the Warriors in scoring and rebounding with 15 and seven respectively. Farias posted 14 points and two assists. McCain added another eight points and four rebounds while Stevens contributed eight points, six assists, four rebounds and four steals.
“Vanessa and Tawny gave us a great spark,” said Moore. “Our bench gave us great energy tonight.”
California Baptist was led by Hahn who scored 23 points.
Westmont will return to Santa Barbara to host The Master’s on Saturday night at 5:30 p.m.
