Defense leads the way in Westmont victory

PORTLAND, Ore. – Elizabeth Evancoe scored 19 points and Lisa Peterson added 17, and Westmont forced 22 turnovers in a 79-67 nonconference women’s basketball win over Concordia on Monday.

Vanessa Farias chipped in 11 points for the Warriors, who improve to 2-0. Concordia falls to 0-3.

“Westmont is a very solid team, inside and out,” Concordia head coach Aaron Christian said. “We have to get prepared for the season and playing in our conference. If you want to be ranked you have to play good teams.”

Concordia’s Danielle Clauson led all scorers with 28 points on 12-of-19 shooting as both teams posted identical team shooting percentages of 45.3 percent (24-of-53). The Warriors outshot the Cavs by six both at the free-throw line and beyond the three-point arc.

Westmont jumped out to an early 10-0 lead in the first three minutes, but Concordia worked its way back into the game over the next 11 minutes. The Cavaliers pulled within four points three different times in the final seven minutes of the first period, including 56 seconds before halftime at 34-30. Westmont scored the next four points and led 38-32 at the break.

Westmont scored the first five points of the second half to pull ahead by 11. Concordia got as close as 46-41 with just under 15 minutes remaining in the contest.

Westmont slowly pulled away, as the final 10 minutes saw the lead bounce between 11 and 15 points.