By Kaci Mexico
January 7, 2017

(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Third ranked Westmont Women's Basketball (14-1, 4-0 GSAC) remained undefeated in the Golden State Athletic Conference after pulling off a 54-51 win in a gritty defensive battle against the Biola Eagles (11-4, 2-1 GSAC). The Warriors were led in scoring by Kayla Sato, with 16 points; along with her were Aimee Brakken and Aysia Shellmire who each scored 14 points. Additionally, Lauren McCoy dominated the boards with 12 rebounds on the night.

"It was a really strange game," reflected head coach Kirsten Moore. "I felt like we couldn't get into any sort of rhythm all night and I would applaud Biola's defense for that. We struggled in ways that we don't usually struggle on the offensive end, but with that being said, we were still able to dial in defensively and get enough stops to be able to stay ahead."

Westmont's defensive efforts more than made up for their offensive shortcomings. Although the Warriors shot at .310 percent (compared to their average field goal percentage of .447), they dominated the boards both offensively and defensively.

 "We had great rebounding and had 46 rebounds to their 24," explained Moore. "Half of our rebounds were offensive, and for us this shows that we stuck with it and tried to figure things out - we stayed persistent even when things weren't going our way."

In the first quarter, both teams scored back and forth with Biola outscoring the Warriors 18-16. To start out the second quarter, the Warriors went on a critical 10-2 run to take a six point lead (26-20); Shellmire had a layup and two free throws, and Sato and Cora Chan, each drained a three-pointer. The first half ended with the Warriors ahead 28-22. The third quarter was a defensive grind, with both teams putting up only six points each and in the final period, both Westmont and Biola each scored more than the previous two quarters combined - Biola put up 23 to Westmont's 20 points.

With 30 seconds remaining in the game, the Warriors led by four points. However, Biola's Tatum Brimley quickly made it a one point game when she hit a three-pointer with 20 seconds left on the clock. Upon inbounding the ball, Westmont's Cora Chan was fouled – she made both free throws to increase Westmont's lead to three. Then, with only five seconds left on the clock, Biola's Tatum Brimley answered back with another three-pointer. Westmont inbounded the ball, and Sato was fouled and made both free throws to finish out the game with a three point lead.

Specifically, Moore pointed to the leadership of Aimee Brakken as an essential element of tonight's victory

"Brakken is incredibly valuable for us and played with a lot of senior leadership tonight – she played every minute of the game," said Moore. "She knocked down those threes early on and knocked down a really huge three late in the game. She just stretches the opposing team's defense because she is such a dangerous shooter and she is also a really gritty, tough, and overall solid defender."

Moving deeper into conference play, this coming week the Warriors will travel north to play William Jessup (7-4, 1-2 GSAC) in Rocklin on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and Menlo (9-7, 0-3 GSAC) in Atherton on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

Moore shared her final thoughts on the past few games, as well as thoughts on preparation for the upcoming games on the road.

 "I think we have to get back some rhythm in what we are doing," said Moore. "The last two games I would say we have not played up to our potential, but that was coming off of playing some of the best basketball we have ever played. We have to just get our rhythm back in these next two days of practice – hopefully two really good days of practice - before we head up north."