By Ron Smith
December 6, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Sophomore Taylor Rarick drained seven three-pointers – five in the fourth quarter – as #11 Westmont Women's Basketball (7-2, 3-0 GSAC) posted an 86-35 Golden State Athletic Conference win over Life Pacific (1-10, 0-4) on Thursday night in Murchison Gymnasium. Rarick went seven for 11 from beyond the arc.
 
"It was fun to see Taylor come in and shoot the way she is capable of," said Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore. "She's a great shooter and that showed tonight."
 
The Warriors tallied 14 threes as a team, bring their average to 9.3 made three-point shots per game. Westmont has a three-point field goal percentage of .418 (84 of 201), which is best in the NAIA.
 
The Warriors got off to a bit of a slow start, missing their first five shots and falling behind 4-0. A layup and a pair of free throws by Kaitlin Larson, followed by a three-pointer by Lauren Tsuneishi, put the Warriors up 7-6 four minutes into the contest.
 
With the score tied at 11 and four minutes remaining in the first quarter, Westmont produced a 13-5 run to take control of the game and end the opening frame with a 24-16 lead. Sydney Brown hit two buckets and Larson, Gabriella Stoll and Stefanie Berberabe contributed one each. Rarick ended the quarter with the first of her threes.
 
"I was not pleased with our defense to start the game, but after the first quarter, we got that dialed in and it was much better," said Kirsten Moore.
 
The second quarter saw the Warriors limit Life Pacific to two points while Westmont tacked on 13. Krissy Miyahara opened the scoring with a three and Stoll added a pair of field goals to put Westmont up 31-16. Iyree Jarrett drained a shot from downtown before Life Pacific scored its two points on a pair of free throws by Alyssa Salgado. A free throw by Roberta Hays and a layup by Larson completed the first half scoring and gave Westmont a 37-18 advantage.
 
"Our shooting in the first half was uncharacteristic of us," said Moore. "I knew we would shoot the ball better in the second half."
 
Westmont made just 36.8 percent of its field goal attempts in the first half but improved their accuracy to 58.1 percent in the second. The Warriors outscored Life Pacific 23-11 in the third quarter and 26-6 in the final frame.
 
Rarick's 21 points led all scorers. Jarrett and Larson each tallied 13 points with Larson adding six rebounds and Jarrett dishing off seven assists. Stoll contributed 10 points, three rebounds, three blocks and two steals while Brown produced seven points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.
 
In addition to four points and six rebounds, Berberabe made her contributions as a distributer.
 
"Stef led us off the bench with nine assists," noted Moore. "The spark plug that she is, as soon as she goes out on the floor the tempo of the game changes.
 
"We had 24 assists tonight," pointed out Moore. "We are playing team basketball, unselfish basketball where we are trying to get our teammates the best shot possible."
 
Westmont will need to take that team mentality to Costa Mesa on Saturday against top-ranked and undefeated Vanguard (8-0, 2-0 GSAC). Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.