By Kaci Mexico

January 19, 2017

(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) In a Golden State Athletic Conference Women's Basketball matchup between #20 The Master's (12-6, 2-5 GSAC) and third ranked Westmont (17-1, 7-0 GSAC), the Warriors transformed a 9-21 deficit in the first quarter into a 61-58 victory at the end of one overtime period. Three Warriors scored in the double digits – Aysia Shellmire and Kayla Sato each put up 16 points and Morgan Haskin had 10.

Led by Bianca Cubello and Kelly Burns, The Master's seized momentum early when they went on a 13-4 run to start off the game and by the end of the first quarter, they had a 12 point lead in a score of 21-9.

Westmont bridged the gap in the second quarter with a 13-0 run to make it a tie game at 24-24, with 2:22 remaining in the half. Three Warriors contributed to the run - Shellmire had two jump shots and a layup, Sato had two free throws, and Lauren McCoy had a layup and two free throws. The Master's had a layup and a three-pointer, and the Warriors followed with a layup to close out the half – The Master's led 29-26 at halftime.

In the third period, Westmont put up 20 points to The Master's 12 to earn a five point lead going into the fourth quarter. Most notably in the third quarter, was an 8-0 Westmont run that lasted until the end of the quarter – Joy Krupa and Haskin each had a layup, and Cora Chan made two free throws (46-41).

The Master's earned back the lead when they went on a 7-0 run to start out the fourth quarter (46-48); however, Aimee Brakken and Sato hit back-to-back three-pointers to give Westmont a four point lead with 5:15 to play (52-48). The Warriors maintained this lead until Cubello and Ashley Bartow put up back-to-back layups to tie the game for the seventh time that night with only 1:25 remaining (52-52).

With 23 seconds remaining, the Mustangs had possession of the ball, but Westmont's defense remained tight and tough. The ball was inbounded and when the clock ran all the way down to 13 seconds, Cora Chan poked the ball out of the hands of a Master's player to earn the Warriors possession of the ball. The Warriors could not convert this possession into a basket, and the game went into a five minute overtime period.

With 1:42 remaining in overtime, the game was tied for the eighth time at 56-56. The scored remained tied until Shellmire put up a layup, drew the foul, and made the subsequent free throw to give the Warriors a three point lead with only 23 seconds remaining (Cora Chan had the assist).Then, The Master's Hannah Forrar answered with a layup to make it a one point game with nine seconds remaining. The ball was inbounded to Brakken, who was fouled and sent to the charity strip with six seconds remaining; with great composure, she made both free-throws to close out the game.

Coming up this Saturday, Westmont will continue conference play with a home game against San Diego Christian (3-4, 13-5 GSAC) at 5:30 p.m.