By Ron Smith
February 24, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Lauren McCoy tallied 20 points while Jae Ferrin and Lauren Tsuneishi added 15 apiece as #4 Westmont Women's Basketball (20-6, 12-2 GSAC) posted a 64-58 win over Hope International (18-12, 5-9) in the final Golden State Athletic Conference game of the regular season.
 
Westmont led by three points (32-29) at halftime but fell behind by nine points in the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Tsuneishi and a put-back and free throw by Jae Ferrin helped the Warriors cut the deficit to five points (51-46 before the quarter ended.
 
Ferrin started the fourth-quarter scoring after stealing the ball and completing a lay-up with 9:02 to play. Thirty seconds later, Morgan Haskin (6 points, 4 rebounds) knocked down a jumper in the paint to pull the Warriors within one point at 51-50. 
 
With 7:13 showing on the game clock, Hope's Vanessa Desimone completed a layup to give the Royals a three-point lead. However, Haskin scored on the Warriors next possession to return the deficit to one and make the score 53-52.
 
The Royals' Nikki Andaya hit a jumper to restore Hope's three-point advantage. One minute later, McCoy notched a layup to bring the deficit to just one (55-54).
 
With 3:30 to play, McCoy struck again with another layup and the Warriors had their first lead (56-55) in more than 16 and one-half minutes of play. One minute later, McCoy completed her third layup of the quarter to put Westmont on top 58-55.
 
The Royals brought the ball down the quarter and found Lauren Davis open beyond the arc. While her 3-pointer would tie the game at 58, it proved to be the last bit of scoring for Hope.
 
With 1:07 left before the end of regulation, Maud Ranger scored her first points of the night on a 3-point shot. Ranger would score again from beyond the arc with 15 remaining to seal the deal for the Warriors.
 
Joy Krupa, who had just two points on the night, led the Warriors on the boards with 14 rebounds. She also dished off nine assists. Ferrin and McCoy just missed double-doubles with nine and eight rebounds respectively.
 
As the GSAC Regular Season Champions, Westmont will head into next week's GSAC Tournament as the number one seed. The Warriors will have a bye in the first round. All five games in the championship tournament will take place at Arizona Christian in Phoenix.
 
On Friday, March 2, fourth-seeded and 25th-ranked Menlo (21-7, 9-5) against fifth-seeded The Master's (18-9, 7-7) at 12:00 p.m. MST (11:00 a.m. PST). On Saturday, Westmont will take on the Menlo-Master's winner in the second semifinal at 12:00 p.m. MST (11:00 a.m. PST)
 
The other first-round matchup will feature, third-seeded and 21st-ranked Arizona Christian (20-7, 9-5) will match up with sixth-seeded Hope International at 2:30 p.m. MST (1:30 p.m. PST) in a first-round game. The winner of that game will advance to take on second-seeded and ninth-ranked Vanguard (21-4, 10-4) in the first semifinal on Saturday, March 3 at 2:30 p.m. MST (1:30 p.m. PST).
 
The championship game is set for 5:00 p.m. MST (4:00 p.m. PST) on Monday, March 5.