Westmont Women’s Basketball faced its first test of the year and came away with a more than passing grade. The twentieth-ranked Warriors (2-0) took on #9 Westminster (0-1) on the Griffins home floor in Salt Lake City, producing a 71-61 victory.
“This was a good win for us,” said Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore. “To beat a good team on the road in their gym says a lot about how good our team can be this year and what we can accomplish.”
The Warriors were led in scoring by junior guard Vanessa Farias who tallied 22 points while making eight of 13 attempts from the floor.
“Vanessa set the tone for our team in the first half,” said Moore. “She was aggressive and had an attacking mentality. She was aggressive in her shot, in driving the lane and on the defensive end of the floor. That mentality put us in the driver’s seat and showed her maturity as an upperclassman.”
After falling behind early in the game by a score of 10-4, the Warriors constructed their first run, scoring the next eight points to go up 12-10. Farias scored four of the eight points while Tawny McCain added two on a layup and Kelsey Sampson drained two free throws.
Twice, the Warriors built their first-half led to seven, but by halftime held only a four-point advantage at 33-29.
“In the beginning of the second half, Tugce (Canitez) came out and had a great run to help us get a big lead on Westminster,” reported Moore. “When she was in foul trouble on the bench, Kelsey Sampson and Lisa Peterson stepped up and made big plays. Kelsey hit a big open jumper from the elbow that was really important and Lisa made big plays down the stretch to help us win. It was a great all-around performance.”
Canitez, a native of Izmir, Turkey who transferred to Westmont from North Idaho Community College, tallied 18 points and seven rebounds with 12 of her points coming in the second half. Peterson scored all 12 of her points after the intermission. Sampson racked up nine points and eight rebounds for the Warriors.
With 9:41 left in regulation, Westmont held a 17-point advantage (53-36). But the Griffins whittled away at the Warrior lead until the margin had been reduced to just four points (63-59) with 1:20 remaining on the clock.
“Good teams make runs and it wasn’t surprising that they knocked down some threes and made a comeback,” said Moore. “But we stayed composed down the stretch and people stepped up when we needed them to.”
A jumper by Sampson gave the Warriors a bit more breathing room at 65-59 with one minute remaining. The rest of the Warriors points were scored at the free throw line with Peterson going four-for-four in the final minute and Farias going two-for-two.
Key to the Warrior victory was control of the boards. Westmont out-rebounded Westminster 39-28 and collected 14 balls off the offensive glass.
Tomorrow, Westmont will take on Rocky Mountain of Montana in a game which begins at noon PDT, giving Westmont just an 18-hour turnaround.
“Rocky Mountain is a good team,” said Moore after observing the Battlin’ Bears post an 87-37 win over Northern New Mexico in the early game of the Westminster Tipoff Classic. “They have a very good post player and some good wing players.”
While not ranked, Rocky Mountain received votes in the NAIA Preseason National Coaches Poll.
