By Kaci Mexico

March 7, 2017

(FULLERTON, Calif.) Aysia Shellmire led all scorers and rebounders in a double-double of 18 points and 16 rebounds and Cora Chan put up 12 points in the final period to lead #7 Westmont Women's Basketball (27-4) to their second consecutive Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament Championship – the Warriors defeated #19 The Master's (22-8) in a score of 61-52.

Along with Shellmire, three other Warriors scored in the double-digits: Chan totaled 15 points, Aimee Brakken put up 11, and Lauren McCoy had ten.

In the first quarter, the Warriors came out hot with an 11-2 run – Shellmire hit a jump shot and the subsequent free throw, as well as a layup; McCoy hit a jump shot and put up a layup; and Kayla Sato also hit a jump shot. This run eventually led to a first quarter score of 18-8.

"Aysia was good all night," reflected head coach Kirsten Moore, "but the way she started out really sparked momentum for us – I mean she had a double-double at halftime, and that is amazing."

In the remaining three periods, both teams traded baskets and played tough defense -The Master's outscored the Warriors 15-14 in the second quarter, and 9-8 in the third; and Westmont outscored the Mustangs 21-20 in the final period.

By the end of the first half, the Warriors held an eight point lead in a score of 32-23; however in the third period, the Warriors struggled to score. "In the third quarter, The Master's stepped up their defense and we couldn't score at all or gain any sort of momentum," explained Moore, "but the fact that we could rely on getting stats from boards during that stretch was huge."

"The boards were incredible tonight," continued Moore. "We had 50 rebounds, out-rebounding them by 18; and had 22 offensive rebounds - I mean really tonight, our defense won us the game."

In the third period, the Mustangs harnessed momentum and strung together five points to come within five (37-32) with only 14 seconds remaining in the quarter. However, Chan responded with a three-pointer at the buzzer to put the Warriors up by eight going into the final period (40-32).

"When Cora Chan hit a buzzer beater at the end of the third I think she finally got momentum back going for us," reflected Moore, - "I think that was the shot of the game. After that, she continued to hit big shot after big shot. She scored all 15 of her points in the last second of the third and then in all of the fourth - that is just a senior with tons of experience stepping up when she needed to."

Three separate times in the fourth period, when The Master's would come within four points of the Warriors, Chan would hit a corresponding three-pointer to put Westmont up by seven once again. With 2:33 left in the game The Master's had yet again worked to come within four points , but this time, Shellmire hit a jump shot to put Westmont up by six (56-50).

With 33 seconds remaining, the Mustangs' Bianca Cubello put up a layup to come within four, and then The Mustangs fouled Chan to stop the clock (56-52). Chan came in clutch once more when she made her next three free throws and increased the Warriors' lead to seven (59-52), and Westmont's Joy Krupa closed out the game with two made free throws.

Head coach Kirsten Moore reflected on her team's performance in tonight's victory.

"I think our players are battle tested and have been in this situation before and so I think their experience really showed in clutch situations in all of these tournament games," explained Moore. "Four of our starters have all played in a final four and I think that experience really came through."

"I think our seniors really wanted this and the experience that our seniors have over the years, put them in positon to understand what it takes to win in these situations," continued Moore. "So even when we were struggling offensively tonight, they stayed focus and kept talking – in every single huddle they were talking about the right things, and they executed the right things tonight.

Coming up, the Warriors will head to Billings Montana to play in the first round of the Women's Basketball NAIA National Championship against an opponent to be determined – the tournament will take place from March 15-21.

Moore shared her excitement surrounding the upcoming tournament.

"I am excited for our conference," expressed Moore. "We are sending four really good teams to the national tournament and I want us as a conference to make a good showing. I love this time of year, when we get to go to the national tournament and cheer for each other instead of having to compete against each other. We are each other's biggest fans right now and I really want our conference to have success at the national tournament."