By Ron Smith
February 10, 2017
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) With a 73-57 win over San Diego Christian (7-18, 0-11 GSAC), #6 Westmont Women's Basketball (18-5, 10-1) has clinched at least a share of the Golden State Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship. With three games remaining in the GSAC season, Westmont holds a three-game lead over #8 Vanguard (17-4, 7-4) and #23 Arizona Christian (18-6, 7-4).
 
"We've stayed the course over a really hard season for a lot of different reasons," said Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore. "Our league is as balanced and tough as it has ever been. Every single night, every team can beat any other team. I'm proud of how our team has improved between November and now.
 
Lauren McCoy recorded her sixth double-double of the season, scoring 21 points and 11 rebounds. McCoy made 10 of 14 attempts from the floor and sank her only free throw.
 
Joy Krupa also notched a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds and was three assists away from a triple-double. It was Krupa's fifth double-double of the season.
 
Also scoring in double figures was Morgan Haskin who tallied 10 points and pulled down four boards.
 
"San Diego Christian fought very hard tonight. They are very scrappy," said Moore. "I thought we didn't play well this evening. We had some moments of really good stuff and other moments that were not good at all – moments when we needed to be tighter and needed to not turn the ball over. We gave up way too many offensive rebounds.
 
"However, there were moments of great hustle and great fight and good things too. Lauren McCoy led the way for us again and Joy Krupa came through."
 
Westmont won all four quarters and never trailed after Lauren Tsuneishi drained a 3-pointer to tie the score at 10 with 3:55 remaining in the first quarter. At halftime, Westmont held a seven-point lead (37-30) and stretched that advantage to 15 (54-39) by the end of the third quarter.
 
The Warriors won't play again until next Saturday when they host The Master's in the final home game of the season. The following week, Westmont concludes the regular season with road games at Vanguard and Hope International.
 
"We are trying to focus on seeing if we can play better heading into the end of the conference season and go into the postseason," said Moore. "We want to keep that trajectory going in a positive direction and not get complacent now in our last three really challenging games to finish off conference."
 
With one win, Westmont will clinch the GSAC Regular Season Championship outright as well as the number one seed in the upcoming GSAC Tournament. Arizona Christian will host the GSAC Tournament beginning on March 2.