Alisha Heglund collected 16 points and 13 rebounds as Westmont Women’s Basketball pulled off a come-from-behind 64-62 victory over the Sea Lions of eighth-ranked Point Loma Nazarene in the first round of the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament. The Warriors trailed by 15 points (49-34) with eleven minutes remaining in regulation, but outscored the Sea Lions 30-13 to advance to the semifinals on Friday night.
Westmont, which entered the GSAC Tournament as the number six seed, will host Hope International, the number seven seed, on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Murchison Gymnasium. The Royals upset seventh-ranked Azusa Pacific 76-67 to earn their way into the semifinals.
“I feel like we have been on the verge of this victory for a really long time,” said Westmont Head Coach Kirsten Moore. “The last couple of games we have been so close to upsetting some of these really great teams we have been playing. We have a group of senior who didn’t want this to be their last game and the team rallied around them. It wasn’t always pretty, but we kept believing it could happen.”
With 10:59 showing on the clock, Katie Kittle (7 points) scored on a layup and was fouled to begin the Warriors’ comeback. After Kittle completed the ‘and-one’ play, she was fouled again and made both free throws to cut the Sea Lion lead to 49-39 with 10:21 remaining in the game.
“Katie’s points in back-to-back possessions started changing the momentum for us,” said Moore. “It was our defense and being able to get stops and rebounds down the stretch that made that run happen.”
Over the next two minutes, the Warriors traded baskets with the Sea Lions twice. Then with 8:16 to play, Jessica Case (13 points, 6 rebounds) was fouled on a layup and added the extra point to make it a seven point differential (53-46). Case scored again with 7:23 remaining and the Warriors were suddenly within five.
Heglund made it a three-point margin with a layup, but Point Loma’s PJ Hanson (5 points, 5 rebounds) nailed a three-pointer to give the Sea Lions a six point cushion (56-50) with 6:12 remaining.
“Alisha was actually feeling sick but she didn’t want this to be her last game so she was going to do whatever she needed to and to it with confidence,” said Moore. “(Colleen) Planeta picked up two fouls early on so we started attacking inside. Alisha did a good job of continuing to play hard.”
The teams traded baskets again with Elizabeth Evancoe scoring for the Warriors and Planeta (20 points, 12 rebounds) making a jumper for the Sea Lions. Then it was a trading of free throws with Amber Stevens (14 points, 5 rebounds) scoring twice for Westmont and Planeta doing the same for Point Loma.
With 2:42 showing on the clock, Case struck from beyond the arc and moved the Warriors back within three (60-57). After a Sea Lion turnover, Stevens drove to the basket and scored on a layup to make it a one point game with 2:11 to play. Point Loma turned it over again and when Kittle’s layup went through the hoop, Westmont had its first lead of the night (61-60) with 1:37 left to play.
Point Loma’s Leah Ector (26 points, 11 rebounds) responded immediately to snatch the lead back, but it would be the last time the Sea Lions led. Fouled by Amanda Franz, Stevens stepped to the line and made one of two free throw attempt to tie the game at 62 with 49 seconds to go. The senior point guard then stole the ball from Planeta and was fouled again by Franz. This time both shots went through the net with 20 seconds left.
Point Loma brought the ball down the court and Ector attempted a layup but missed. Tawny McCain grabbed the rebound and the Warriors had won.
