By Ron Smith
March 15, 2018
 
(BILLINGS, Mont.) In the first round of the NAIA Women's Basketball National Tournament, senior forward Lauren McCoy showed why she was named a Women's Basketball Coaches Association NAIA First Team All-American earlier in the week. The senior recorded a double-double in the first half and went on to produce 26 points and 15 rebounds in Westmont's (23-6) victory over eighth-seeded Cumberland of Tennessee (20-12).
 
The Warriors, who are a number one seed and ranked fourth in the NAIA, won by a score of 57-51.
 
"Lauren led like a senior today," said Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore. "From the opening tip, she was aggressive, attacking and confident. Our team followed suit. She didn't let up. I'm proud of who she is, what she is about and what she has done for four years. We are not ready for it to be over."
 
Westmont advances to take on fifth-seeded and 20th-ranked Loyola of Louisiana (26-5) on Friday in the second round.
 
The Cumberland Phoenix jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the first quarter, but Westmont responded with jumpers by senior Morgan Haskin (9 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks) and sophomore Joy Krupa (6 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists) to tie the game at eight. Ant'Treasia Patton (12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) scored to put the Phoenix back on top by two before a couple of free throws from McCoy tied the score at 10.
 
Patton scored again on a jumper but so did McCoy, tying the game at 12. After a block by Haskin on Cumberland's next possession, McCoy recovered an offensive rebound off her own missed shot and scored on the put-back to give Westmont a lead of 14-12 with 2:36 to play in the opening period.
 
The only other scoring in the first quarter came with under 30 seconds to play as Patton hit a three to put the Phoenix in front 15-14.
 
Westmont's defense took over the game and did not allow Cumberland to score for the first six minutes of the second quarter. The Warriors, on the other hand added nine points to their total on a jumper by Haskin, a 3-point bucket by Maud Ranger (9 points), and jumpers from Cassidy Tiegs (2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists) and McCoy.
 
Janisha Lindsey (6 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists) ended the Phoenix draught with a 3-point bucket before McCoy scored in the paint to make the score 25-18 with 3:23 remaining before intermission. On Cumberland's next possession, Carli Codner-Pinto (6 points) drained another three for the Phoenix to cut the deficit to four (25-21). Kaitlin Oliver (4 points, 4 rebounds) scored on a jumper to draw Cumberland within two, but McCoy hit two free throws to give Westmont a 27-23 lead at halftime.
 
 McCoy ended the first half with 15 points and 11 rebounds as the Warriors controlled the paint. For the game, the Warriors outrebounded the Phoenix 45-23 while allowing the Tennesseans just six points in the paint. Cumberland made up for their lack of inside offense by scoring from beyond the arc. By game's end, Cumberland had made 11 of 29 shots from long distance.
 
"Our rebounding was huge today," noted Moore. "That gave us just enough extra possessions. Our presence in the paint today, both from a rebounding and defensive perspective, forced Cumberland to hit threes to stay in the game. Credit them for hitting a bunch of big shots."
 
A closely contested third quarter brought Cumberland two points closer as the penultimate period ended with a 39-37 Westmont lead.
 
The lead did not last long. Patton scored off an assist from Kyra Tucker (15 points, 3 rebounds) to tie the score at 39. Tucker was fouled on a 3-point attempt on the Phoenix' next trip up the floor and sank all three free throw attempts to put Cumberland up 42-39.
 
A jumper by McCoy with 8:19 to play cut the lead to one, but Codner-Pinto scored from downtown to make the score 45-41 with 7:53 remaining.
 
With 7:22 to play, Ranger answered Codner-Pinto's three with one of her own when McCoy kicked the ball out to her from the paint. A minute later, Lauren Tsuneishi (5 points, 2 assists) drove the lane, was fouled and dropped two free throws through the hoop to give Westmont a 46-45 lead.
 
However, with 4:12 remaining, Tucker drained another 3-pointer to put the Phoenix up 48-46. It proved to be Cumberland's last lead of the game.
 
Haskin tied the game at 48 after grabbing an offensive rebound and converting the put-back. After a defensive stop on the opposite end, Haskin was fouled on a jumper and completed the and-one play to put the Warriors in the lead 51-48 with 2:07 left in regulation.
 
After another defensive stop, Krupa fed McCoy in the paint where she was fouled on the made layup. She also converted the old-fashioned three-point play to give Westmont a 54-48 advantage with 1:44 showing on the game clock.
 
A minute later, Micah Norris (10 points, 5 rebounds) drained the Phoenix' final three of the game to cut the leave in half. With 18 seconds to play, Ranger attempted a three but the ball bounced off the rim. Krupa, however, recovered the ball for an offensive rebound, forcing the Phoenix to foul McCoy to keep the clock from expiring.
 
McCoy stepped to the line with seven seconds remaining and sank the first of two attempts to make the score 55-51. Her second attempt bounced off the rim to the right. However, Krupa used her athleticism to grab her second offensive rebound of the game.
 
Krupa was immediately fouled. She stepped to the line and drained both shots, putting Westmont up 57-51 and sealing the game for the Warriors.
 
"Everyone stepped up when they needed to," said Moore. "We pulled together down the stretch in the fourth quarter like we have all year. It wasn't easy, Cumberland stepped up and hit so many big threes. We are not accustomed to giving up that many 3-point shots, I can tell you that. But given the match-ups, I felt like it was our best option.
 
"Down the stretch, we were able to get enough stops to hold on and make some good plays – Morgan's three-point play, Maud's threes, Lauren Tsuneishi's drive and getting fouled, and Joy's offensive rebounds."
 
Tomorrow's game against Loyola is scheduled for a tip-off of 4:30 p.m. local time (3:30 p.m. PDT). Loyola advanced with an 86-84 overtime win against fourth-seeded Our Lady of the Lake from Texas (23-10).
 
"Loyola was in the game before us," said Moore. "They are a tough, good team. It will take our absolute best to be in that game tomorrow. We have quick turnarounds and recovery for both teams. We'll do our best to try and recover and prepare the way we are used to preparing to be ready to go tomorrow."
 
Westmont and Loyola have never met and the two teams had no common opponents this year. Loyola is led in scoring by senior, 5-2 guard Zoie Miller who entered the tournament averaging 19.6 points per game.