Despite being without one starter and two coaches, #8 Westmont Women’s Basketball posted a 73-59 non-conference win over La Sierra (12-15) on Thursday night in Murchison Gymnasium. With their eleventh win in a row, Westmont improves its season record to 19-3.
The Warriors were without All-American Tugce Canitez who suffered a concussion late in Tuesday’s 70-58 win over #3 Vanguard. Assistant coaches Selena Ho and Emilie Johnson also missed tonight’s game due to illness.
“This is a game you are happy to get the win and move on,” said Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore. “We played good defense in the first half and led at halftime 32-25.”
Kelsie Sampson led the Warriors with 19 points and 13 rebounds to record her third double-double of the season. Esther Lee connected on four of nine attempts from three-point range on her way to 14 points. Celina Gougis added 13 points, four rebounds and three assists to the Warrior totals.
“Jillian Wilber (8 points) came up big for us in the first half,” noted Moore, “and Dori Lansbach (5 points, 2 assists) was an important spark for us in the second half.”
Westmont will take to the road on Saturday to resume Golden State Athletic Conference at Hope International. The Warriors are 9-0 in league play and have a two-game lead over Vanguard and #10 The Master’s who are tied for second at 7-2.
Next week, Westmont will play its last two regular season home games. On Tuesday, the Warriors will take on The Master’s and then host Arizona Christian on Saturday. Both games are scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.
