It had to end sometime. Westmont Women’s Basketball, ranked at number four in the NAIA, saw their 16-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday night in El Cajon where the Hawks of San Diego Christian (17-7, 6-6 GSAC) defeated the Warriors 59-56 in a Golden State Athletic Conference game.
“My hope is that this loss is going to make us better in March and better even on Tuesday and that this team uses this to fuel us to continue to get better and keep striving for the goals that we set,” said Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore.
The Warriors, who are now 21-2 overall and 11-1 in GSAC play, remain in first place in the GSAC standings, two games ahead of #9 Vanguard (15-5, 9-3) and #12 Azusa Pacific (16-6, 9-3) who are tied for second. San Diego Christian is in a three-way tie for fourth place with Biola (14-8, 6-6) and Point Loma Nazarene (15-9, 6-6).
The Warriors led by as much as ten in the first half; however the Hawks cut the margin in half by the intermission (25-20). In the first five minutes of the second half, San Diego Christian outscored the Warriors 15-4 to take a 35-29 lead. The score remained close throughout the rest of the game, but turnovers and missed opportunities in the final minute kept the Warriors from securing the win.
Tugce Canitez led the Warriors in scoring and rebounding, tallying 18 points and eight boards. Lisa Peterson added 13 points and four rebounds while Katie Kittle posted 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
With 11 points in tonight’s game, Kittle now has a career total of 1,002, making her the ninth Warrior to surpass the 1,000 career-points mark. Kittle graces the Westmont record book at many places including fifth on the all-time three-point field goals made (150) and fourth on the three-point field goal career shooting percentage (35.2). Kittle’s 432 career rebounds ranks tenth in Warrior history. She is also seventh in career assists (186), tied for sixth in blocked shots (30) and seventh in steals (148).
Westmont returns to action on Tuesday when they host Biola at 5:30 p.m
