Westmont Women’s Basketball got their feet wet on Monday night in an exhibition game against the Waves of Pepperdine in Malibu. Though the Warriors lost by a score of 98-56 to the NCAA Division I team, the young Westmont squad gained some valuable experience that should pay off down the road.
“We knew going in that this would be a tough match-up with their pressure and their athleticism, especially on the perimeter,” said Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore. “That definitely showed tonight, but there were some bright spots as well. We had some great play from our inside game, but we weren’t able to get the ball inside enough and take advantage of that because of their perimeter defense. I think it was actually good for us to be tested like that. We learned a lot and started to figure it out. In the second half we played a lot better.”
Senior forward Angel Blanco led the Warriors in scoring with 16 points while making seven of 10 from the floor.
“Angel was very aggressive and played with a lot of confidence,” reported Moore. “We need to feed off that and use her leadership. She did some really great things out there on the court.”
Junior guard Katie Kittle added nine points for the Warriors while Lisa Peterson and Kelsie Sampson each contributed another eight.
As a team, the Warriors made 41.1% from the floor (23 of 56), including two of nine from three-point range. On the boards, Westmont kept pace with Pepperdine, pulling down 34 rebounds, compared to the Wave’s 38. Fourteen of the Warriors’ boards were from the offensive glass.
“Rebounding is an area where we have set very high goals for ourselves,” said Moore. “We were disappointed in our rebounding tonight because we think we could have out-rebounded them.”
Two areas the Warriors will work on are free throw shooting and turnovers. Westmont gave up the ball 30 times – 19 on Pepperdine steals – and made just 40 percent from the charity stripe.
“We struggled with first game jitters,” said the coach. “We shot eight of 20 from the free throw line which is uncharacteristic of us. That is something that will be fixed.
“The turnovers are a result of the defense that they play,” continued Moore. “They run and jump everywhere – full court, half court. One of the things we need to get better at is taking care of the basketball, making good decisions and being strong against pressure. We’ll keep working on that.”
The game in Malibu served as a warm up for this weekend’s trip to Oregon. On Friday, the Warriors will be in Eugene to play at Northwest Christian in the first official game for both squads. The game, which can be viewed online from a link on the Westmont Athletics website, is scheduled to begin at four o’clock.
While in Eugene, the Warriors will have the opportunity to play an exhibition game against PAC-10 opponent Oregon, which is Moore’s alma mater. That game will be played on Sunday at two o’clock.
Before heading home, Westmont will visit Portland on Monday for a 7:30 p.m. game against Concordia.
