An 18-0 run in the first half gave Westmont Women’s Basketball all it needed to secure a 63-38 non-conference win over California Lutheran (2-4) on Saturday night at Murchison Gymnasium.
With the victory, Westmont has moved to 10-1 on the season, a mark they have reached in three of the past four years. It is also the first win for Westmont over California Lutheran in program history. The Regals had won the previous three meetings.
Tugce Canitez tallied 15 points (11 from the free throw line), eight rebounds and four steals. Vanessa Farias added another 15 points, making six of 11 from the field including three of six from three-point range. Lisa Peterson was a perfect six for six from the charity stripe as she tallied 12 points and five rebounds.
The Warriors shot just 36.5% from the field but held the Regals to 30.8% with a solid defensive effort.
“We had a very good, focused, defensive effort to try and pressure, get a lot of deflections and try to force turnovers,” said Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore. “We were able to be successful defensively, which was the positive of the game. We were sloppy on the offensive end, and we will continue to work on that part of our game.”
Westmont out-rebounded California Lutheran by a margin of 37 to 28, snatching the ball off the offensive glass on 14 occasions.
With 13:58 remaining in the first half, Chelsey Hastingan (5 points) struck from downtown for the Regals to make it an 11-10 game in favor of the Warriors. Over the next eight minutes, Westmont outscored California Lutheran 18-0. The run included eight points by Canitez, A three-pointer each by Farias and Aubrey Lincoln (9 points, 3 rebounds), a jumper by Erin Beadle and a lay-up by Katie Kittle.
The Warriors led 31-16 at halftime and the Regals were unable to reduce the margin to less than 10 at any point in the second half.
Westmont will take time off for finals and return to competition on Thursday and Friday, December 29 and 30, when it hosts the GSAC Challenge. On Thursday at one o’clock, San Diego Christian will take on Cal State Maritime with Westmont playing Pacific Union at 5:30 p.m. Then on Friday, San Diego Christian will face Pacific Union at one and Westmont will square up against Cal State Maritime at 5:30 p.m.
