LA MIRADA — Sixteen points from Tugce Canitez and 15 from Lisa Peterson helped the Warriors notch their fifteenth win of the season against just one loss as fourth-ranked Westmont Women’s Basketball posted a 56-47 Golden State Athletic Conference win over the Eagles of Biola (9-5, 2-3 GSAC).
The victory extends Westmont’s winning streak this season to 10 games – the longest in program history.
“It certainly wasn’t the prettiest game,” acknowledged Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore. “It was one of those games where you are glad to win ugly rather than lose pretty. Again, we were able to rely on our inside game tonight. Lisa Peterson did a fantastic job inside for us. Katie Kittle was a monster on the boards, which was huge because she was struggling to hit it from the perimeter. Vanessa Farias played well tonight as did Aubrey Lincoln off the bench.
Kittle tallied 12 rebounds for the Warriors while Farias and Lincoln each added eight points.
The game started slowly for both teams with the Warriors holding just a 6-4 lead seven minutes into the contest. However, Westmont started heating up with just under 11 minutes showing on the first half clock. Tawny McCain hit a jumper in the paint. Then Lincoln scored with a jumper on a fast break and followed it up with a bomb from beyond the arc to give Westmont at 13-6 advantage with 9:10 to go before intermission.
Cantiz stretched the Warrior advantage to 15-6 with a layup, Lincoln added another three and Peterson scored in the paint to put the Warriors up 20-6 with six minutes showing on the clock.
Westmont’s 12-0 run came to an end when Chelsea Hill (10 points, 5 rebounds) scored on a jumper for Biola and Emily Drew (14 points, 7 rebounds) nailed a three-pointer to make it 20-11 with 4:12 before the break. That nine point margin proved to be the difference in both the halftime (26-17) and final scores.
“Biola is a very physical team and a great rebounding team,” said Moore. “The fact that we outrebounded them is great. The fact that we gave up 14 offensive rebounds is not good at all. Something we need to continue to focus on is holding teams to one shot and taking care of the ball against the physicality that they brought.”
Down by 14 points (50-36) with eight and one-half minutes left in the second half, Biola put on a 9-0 run over the next five minutes to pull within five points (50-45). A free throw by Peterson with 3:11 left in regulation broke the streak and neither team scored over the next minute and one-half.
Beadle made it a nine-point Warrior advantage when she connected on three of four free throw attempts, making it 54-45 with 54 seconds to play. After a jumper by Biola’s Charrise Reece (9 points, 5 assists), Canitez completed the scoring by making two free throws. Westmont did not make a field goal in the final eight and one-half minutes of play.
In other Golden State Athletic Conference action, #10 Vanguard was a 74-66 winner at San Diego Christian and #13 Azusa Pacific won at Fresno Pacific 99-89. Point Loma Nazarene also squeaked out a road win, defeating Hope International 64-63. Concordia was the only home team to win a GSAC game on Tuesday night, posting an 83-73 home victory against The Master’s.
At 5-0 in conference play, the Warriors remain in first place in the GSAC standings, one game ahead of Vanguard (10-3, 4-1). Azusa Pacific (10-5, 3-2) and Concordia (6-6, 3-2) are tied for third place. Biola, San Diego Christian (13-4, 2-3), Point Loma Nazarene (11-6, 2-3) and Fresno Pacific (10-7, 2-3) are in a four-way tie for fifth place. The Master’s (8-9, 1-4) and Hope International (4-13, 1-4) are tied for ninth.
Next up for the Warriors is a home game against Hope International in Murchison Gymnasium on Saturday, January 14. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
