By Tim Heiduk
December 7, 2019
 
(GILBERT, Ariz.) The #5 Westmont women's basketball team outscored Arizona Christian by 29 points in the second half after trailing late in the first half, on its way to a 74-42 road victory to improve to 7-2 overall and 2-0 in the GSAC.
 
"We had a really slow start today, especially defensively just trying to find our way," said Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore. "We really picked it up and had a phenomenal second half, holding them to 17 points defensively which was their total in the first quarter. We had a huge offensive third quarter as well and came out of halftime really well."
 
The Warriors trailed 16-17 after the first quarter of play after shooting five for 14 from the field, with all five field goals made being from behind the 3-point line.
 
Westmont only shot 27.8% in the second quarter, but its defense stepped up to hold the Firestorm to eight points on 21.4% shooting in the period. The Warriors trailed 23-25 with 2:52 left in the quarter, but went on a 5-0 run to take a 28-25 lead into halftime.
 
"I was proud of our response after our first half where we really struggled to get our rhythm and momentum," said Moore. "We found it in the second half which was great."
 
Westmont's offense heated up in the third quarter, as the Warriors scored 27 points on 10 for 15 shooting, almost matching their point total from the entire first half. The team made six 3-pointers on nine attempts in the third quarter, including three from Maud Ranger and two from Lauren Tsuneishi.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Warriors clamped down on defense to hold the Firestorm to six points, while the offense stayed hot with 19 points in the final period.
 
For the game, Westmont made 16 3-pointers, tied for the third most in a single game in program history.
 
"We really shot the ball well against their pressure and traps," said Moore. "We were able to find a lot of looks from the 3-point line and continued our ability to make a lot of threes. We've got a lot of shooters and they were ready to go today."
 
Four Warriors scored in double figures, led by Kaitlin Larson's 16 points on six of 12 shooting, including three for five from 3-point range. Tsuneishi tallied 15 points on five 3-point field goals made, while Ranger recorded 12 points (four 3-pt. FGM) and Iyree Jarrett added 10.
 
Stefanie Berberabe led the team with seven assists. Her four steals tied for a team high with Krissy Miyahara. Ranger recorded her second double-double of the season by also collecting 13 rebounds.
 
"Maud Ranger really lead the way for us with her toughness on the boards," said Moore.
 
Westmont returns home to play against #4 Vanguard on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in a matchup between two nationally ranked top-five teams.
 
"I'm looking forward to coming back home," said Moore. "We've got a huge game next Saturday against Vanguard in a meeting of two top-five teams. I'm looking forward to that, but we've got some finals to focus up on first as we come back to campus."