Freshman guard Cora Chan led in scoring with 16 points off the bench as No.11-ranked Westmont Women’s Basketball (20-8) advanced to the semifinals of the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament with a 70-56 win over Concordia (12-15, 5-10).
The Warriors will take on #7 The Master’s at 7 p.m. in Santa Clarita on Friday.
“It was an incredibly physical basketball game,” noted Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore. “We had times were the style of play took us out of what we were used to doing. But I was proud of the fact that we were able to regroup and stay composed when there were a lot of fouls in this game. We were able to get to the free throw line and get points on the board that way.”
A total of 50 fouls were called – 30 on the visitors and 20 on the home team. The Warriors got to the free throw line 43 times and made 32 of their attempts accounting for 45.7 percent of their total score. Concordia made six of 13 attempts from the charity stripe.
Westmont won the battle of the board 48-44, but Concordia collected 19 offensive rebounds to Westmont’s 10. Senior forward Kelsie Sampson snatched a career-high 19 rebounds to go with 12 points and six blocked shots. Despite the physical nature of the game, Sampson kept out of foul trouble and played all but two minutes of the game.
Chan went four for four from the field and made eight of 10 free throw attempts as part of a 34-point contribution from the Warrior bench. Freshman forward Aysia Shellmire tallied six points, six rebounds and two blocks while sophomore guard Karlie Storkson added another six points.
“We had huge play from our bench tonight,” said Moore. “Cora was such a spark for us all night and Aysia did a great job inside. As we head into postseason play, we need to be a team that has depth and has people coming off the bench and playing with confidence.”
Among the starters, Celina Gougis produced 14 points and three rebounds, making four of six field goal attempts – including two of three from beyond the arc – and four of five free throws.
Concordia was led by Ashley Ellis with 14 points while Gaby Johnson added 13 points and six rebounds. Brittany Stafford, who notched seven points, collected 15 rebounds.
