Freshman guard Vanessa Farias tallied 20 points and made five of eight from beyond the arc, as Westmont Women’s Basketball advanced to the championship game of the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament with an 82-68 win over Hope International on Friday night in Murchison Gymnasium. This is only the second time the Warriors have reached the GSAC championship game.
“During warm up, I just wasn’t feeling it,” acknowledged Farias. “I went over to my assistant coach (Meghan Gnekow) and said, ‘Meghan, my shot is off.’ She came out and shot with me but it wasn’t falling. I was nervous when I went in (the game), but after I made the first one I regained a little bit of confidence.”
“We did a really good job of finding who was hot,” said senior post player Alisha Heglund. “Vanessa was on fire. Against Azusa we executed our game plan but we struggled to find who was shooting well. Going into Point Loma we focused on finding who was hot. I think we did a great job of doing that (again) tonight.”
Five and one-half minutes into the game, Hope International’s Sarah Nylander (11 points, 7 rebounds) delivered her second three of the game to put the Royals up 16-10. Elizabeth Evancoe (8 points, 3 rebounds) scored on two free throws to make it a 16-12 game but Shauna Ricker answered with a layup to make it 18-12 with 13:51 to play in the first half.
Over the next five minutes, the Royals would commit five turnovers and attempt only two field goals. During the same stretch, Westmont produced a 16-0 run, initiated with a trey by Larissa Hensley (7 points). Heglund would score four points on two layups, but the other 14 points were scored by freshman – seven by Hensley, three by Farias and two by Tawny McCain.
“We were helped out a bunch by the play of our freshmen off the bench,” said Westmont Head Coach Kirsten Moore, “especially in the first half. Playing four games in seven days, the fact that the bench was ready to come in and make a difference for us was great. It was a great team effort.”
The bench scored 28 points in the first half and added another six in the second half.
Up 28-18 at the end of the run, the Warriors continued to press their advantage. Westmont took a 19 point advantage (43-24) when Farias nailed her second three-pointer of the night with 5:15 remaining before the end of the half.
“We were telling ourselves that we have to keep increasing the lead and can’t go easy,” said Farias. “We weren’t going to allow ourselves to relax. We were going to go for rebounds and not let down. Part of that is because of our statement at the beginning of the year to, ‘never be satisfied.'”
The Royals cut the Warrior lead to 14 by halftime and remained aggressive throughout the second half. But Hope International could not get closer than seven points and at the final buzzer, the 14-point halftime advantage proved to the Warriors’ margin of victory.
“What won the game was our defense,” said Moore. “We forced them into 16 turnover and we took care of the ball and had only four turnovers. That’s pretty good execution.”
“The past couple of games we have bought into playing defense and have seen that when we create turnovers our offensive comes so naturally,” said Heglund.
Jessica Case tallied 16 points for the Warriors, pulled down five rebounds and dished off four assists. Amber Stevens had six points, five rebounds and nine assists. Katie Kittle added nine points and seven rebounds.
“Katie had a great second half,” said Moore. “She had a couple of fouls early and didn’t get to play much in the first half. I said to her at halftime, ‘You’re rested. You’re going to have a big second half,’ and she did. She came out and was real aggressive and led us in rebounding.”
Contributing to Westmont’s success has been the relationship between the older and younger players.
“At the Point Loma game, I go on the floor and Amber (Stevens) said, ‘V, I don’t want this to be the last time we play with each other.’ That honestly touched me,” said Farias. “She did the same this game.
“Just like I trust in the seniors and cheer them on, they do the same thing,” continued Farias. “It is a really good team thing. I like that they trust me along with the other people on the bench like Tawny and Larissa and Jill. It is really nice to know that even if we do mess up they will help us.”
The Warriors are looking to bring that chemistry and their new found momentum into the championship game at Vanguard on Monday. The Lions earned their way to the title match with a 78-68 win over Biola.
“At the team retreat we set a goal to either be champions through tournament play or to be GSAC champs through league play,” said Heglund. “We have not lost sight of that goal. This is the only road to nationals and we want to be there so desperately. We are beyond excited and looking forward to this great opportunity we have been given.”
“We are excited to be in the championship, but we want to win,” said Moore. “There is a lot at stake for us – a chance to go back to nationals for the fourth year in a row. That is a goal we have had from the beginning of the year. We definitely have our backs up against the wall. We put ourselves in a position to not get an at-large bid. We know we must win this thing to keep our season going. We are going to come in and let it all out there on the court.”
Historically, no Warrior basketball player, men’s or women’s, has ever been to four national tournaments. This year’s seniors are looking to change that fact by defeating Vanguard and earning an automatic bid to the national tournament as champions of the GSAC. The game will be played in Costa Mesa on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
