Twenty-six points by Elizabeth Evancoe and a near triple-double for Amber Stevens weren’t enough for the Westmont women’s basketball team hold onto the lead and overcome No. 24 Azusa Pacific, which beat the Warriors 82-74 in Murchison Gymnasium on Monday.
Stevens shined on her Senior Night, finishing with 11 rebounds, nine points, and 10 assists. It was quite a way to go out playing her last game on Kammerer court.
“Amber is unbelievable,” said coach Moore. “She’s at the tops of about every Westmont record in a career. She showed that on her Senior Night.”
She nearly had a chance to get her triple-double when she drew a shooting foul with 1:43 left to play in the game. She was sitting on nine points at the time and had two free throws to try and get that point. Unfortunately she hit her head so hard on the foul that trainers had to take a look at her, and Vanessa Farias came in to shoot the free throws. Stevens came back into the game later, but never got a chance to shoot the ball.
Evancoe had 17 of her 26 points by halftime, shooting 11-for-18 from the floor and making 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.
“I wish we could have found more shots for her in the second half,” said Moore. “She came out shooting the lights out. It really gave us a big lift and helped us lead the game for most of the night.”
The Cougars were led by the NAIA’s second leading scorer in Alex Moore-Porter. She finished the game with 24 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Kristie Hala’ufia also had a strong game, using her 6-foot-2 inch frame to her advantage, dominating in the paint. She finished with 16 rebounds and 15 points, including making seven of 10 field goal attempts.
The Warriors led most of the game, including a 6-point lead with 8:05 left thanks to a layup by Evancoe. But then the Cougars started to heat up. Moore-Porter hit a jumper, then Jessica Raber hit two free throws. C.J. Hill (17 points, four rebounds, four assists) hit a jumper to tie the game, and from then on the Warriors wouldn’t lead by more than three points.
With 1:27 to go Hala’ufia drained a shot and followed it up with a lay-up to give the Cougars a 6-point lead. Moore-Porter then made both of her shots from the charity stripe to give the Cougars an 8-point lead with 28 seconds left in the game. The deficit was too big for the Warriors to overcome.
The win puts the Warriors at 16-12 on the season and 9-11 in GSAC. The Cougars climb to a record of 25-5, 18-2. The Warriors next game will be at Point Loma in the first round of the GSAC Tournament on Wednesday night. Tipoff will be at 7:30 p.m.
