Jessica Case had 28 points and Westmont hit 13 shots from beyond the arc, but the injury-depleted Warriors didn’t have the post-presence to stymie No. 8 Point Loma in Saturday’s 88-76 women’s basketball loss at Murchison Gym.
“They just killed us inside tonight,” said Moore, who has yet to beat the perennially powerful Sea Lions in her five seasons at the helm. “Our post players are injured, and we just don’t have a lot of them.”
Alisha Heglund did what she could down low with 18 points, eight boards and a pair of blocks, but 5-foot-10 Sea Lion Liah Ector — a guard — was actually the most effective post player in the game.
Jessica Case scored 28 points in Westmont's loss.
Ector totaled 16 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive glass, to go along with 25 points. All 11 of those offensive boards came after halftime, giving the Sea Lions second-chance opportunities that extinguished any Westmont surges.
The visitors had a 38-28 lead at halftime, but Westmont went on a 10-3 run to open the second half, capped by a Case 3-pointer that cut Point Loma’s lead to 41-38 with 17 minutes left.
Point Loma fired back with five straight points, but Case hit another long-ball at the 14:15 mark to pull Westmont within five at 46-41. On the next Sea Lions possession, however, Ector got her own rebound twice before finally sinking a shot and getting fouled for the 3-point play. A Heglund jumper made it a 6-point game, but the Point Loma lead hovered at around 10 points the rest of the way.
Colleen Planeta, an All-American like Ector, scored 24 points for Point Loma, which has GSAC title hopes at 24-3, 15-3. Westmont, meanwhile, will have to either win its last three games (two against top-10 teams) or finish second or better in the GSAC Tournament for a chance at the NAIA Tournament.
A match-up against Point Loma in the first round is a strong possibility, bringing another opportunity for Moore to get the elusive win against the Sea Lions.
“It’s gonna mean a lot when we get it, it just hasn’t happened yet,” she said.
