By Kaci Mexico
November 25, 2016

At the start of the fourth quarter #2 Westmont Women's Basketball (3-1) was tied with the number one team in the country, MidAmerica Nazarene 39-39; however, in the fourth period the Pioneers (4-0) outscored the Warriors 17-14, defeating them by a score of 56-53. This was the Warriors' first of two games in the Rotary Classic Women's Basketball Tournament being held in Jackson, Tennessee.

The Pioneers seized momentum early when they outscored the Warriors 13-4 in the first period. The Warriors responded and worked to bridge this nine point gap when they outscored the Pioneers 17-13 in the second quarter and 18-13 in the third quarter (39-39).

Four minutes into the fourth period, the Pioneers led by three, until Aysia Shellmire hit a jump shot to bridge the gap to only one point (48-49). Twenty seconds later, Jayden Oliver of Mid America Nazarene, hit a three pointer to increase their lead to four; Shellmire immediately answered back with a jump shot to make it a two point game.

With 2:53 remaining the Pioneers' Jovana Jovovic and Ashley Gibson hit back-to-back jump shots to take a six point lead (56-50); and with only 57 seconds left in the game, Westmont's Kayla Sato hit a three-pointer to make it a three-point game; in the remaining time, the Warriors scrambled to score but ultimately came up short.

Shellmire led the Warriors in points with 14, and Lauren McCoy led in rebounds with eight. Additionally, Morgan Haskin had 13 points and Sato had 12. All and all, the Warriors shot at 34.4 percent, while the Pioneers shot at 42.3.

Tomorrow afternoon the Warriors will take on #4 Campbellsville (Ky.) at 2:30 p.m. (CDT) and 12:30 (PDT). Earlier today, Campbellsville defeated John Brown 71-64.