By Kaci Mexico

Junior Aimee Brakken lit up the three-point line to help earn #2 Westmont Women's Basketball (21-3, 10-1 GSAC) its 10th conference win of the season. The Warriors defeated the Firestorm of Arizona Christian (10-14, 2-9) by a score of 76-59.

Brakken was the game's leading scorer with 21 points – all of which were off of three-pointers (7 of 14).

"Brakken has been shooting the ball great all year," explained head coach Kirsten Moore. "She and Cora Chan are numbers one and two in the conference in three-point shooting percentage. I think it was great for us to make 14 threes tonight – Bracken lead the way with seven, Cora was two for three and Storkson off of the bench with three for four from the three-point line was huge for us as well."

The game began with three three-pointers – a foreshadowing of the explosion of three-pointers that was to follow. Within the first ten seconds junior Cora Chan made a three-pointer, assisted by senior Krissy Karr; Arizona Christian's Madison Austin answered back with a three-pointer of her own; and Brakken added her first three-pointer of the game, assisted by Chan.

After a well fought first quarter, Arizona Christian came out on top with a one-point lead (19-18).

However, the Warriors harnessed momentum with a 6-0 run to start off the second quarter (24-19). Sophomore Lauren McCoy had a jump shot and made the subsequent free-throw, and senior Karlie Storkson hit a three-pointer, assisted by McCoy. Despite the Warriors' attempts to increase this lead, the Firestorm did not relent. The half ended with the Warriors barely ahead by a score of 38-36.

"We struggled in the first half to get stops defensively," reflected Moore, "so all we talked about at halftime was our focus and grit defensively. In the second half we found a way to get stops and I thought we did a really good job.

"They have the leading scorer in the GSAC – Maddison Austin – and we held her to 8 points," continued Moore. "They also have the fourth leading scorer in the GSAC – Courtney Christmas – and we held her to ten, so we did a really good job on their two big scorers and then defensively we held them to just 23 points in the second half."

In the third quarter the Warriors displayed this defensive grit when they held the Firestorm to only eight points; they also continued their offensive success by scoring 19 points – including a 12-2 run that lasted two minutes and 19 seconds.

The first of these consisted of a three-pointer by Brakken, assisted by Karr; and a three pointer by Karr, assisted by Chan. The second of these began with a layup and free-throw by McCoy and finished with yet another three-pointer by Brakken.

Halfway into the final quarter, Arizona Christian closed the gap to 12 points (54-66) when they went on a six-point run. Jazmin Mays had a jump shot, Makayla Enders had a layup, and Alyssa Gruber had a layup.

The Warriors held off the Firestorm and finished the game almost exactly as it began – with two three-pointers by Brakken and Chan.
Coming up this Saturday, the Warriors will host Biola in Murchison Gym at 5:30 p.m. in a highly anticipated school rivalry matchup.

"They have been playing teams really tight and they got a couple good wins lately," explained Moore, "so it's a big matchup for us. They shoot the ball well from the perimeter and they play pretty tough defense so those will be focus points for us."