(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) The Golden State Athletic Conference season came to an end this evening with #15 Westmont (22-7, 14-4 GSAC) securing a come-from-behind win against the Royals of Hope International (17-11, 7-11).
With the win, the Warriors secured sole possession of second place in the regular season standings and the number two seed in next week's GSAC Tournament. As the number two seed, Westmont is awarded a bye in the quarterfinal round.
The tournament, which will be held at Menlo College in Atherton, begins on Thursday with quarterfinal action that will see third-seeded and 21st ranked Arizona Christian (20-10, 13-5) take on the sixth-seeded and 22nd-ranked Menlo (20-8, 11-7). Vanguard (21-8, 12-6), ranked ninth in the NAIA and seeded fourth in the GSAC Tournament, will face fifth-seeded William Jessup (20-9, 11-7) in the other quarterfinal match-up.
The quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals on Friday. Westmont will take on the winner of the Arizona Christian-Menlo game at 5:00 p.m. Top-seeded and fifth-ranked The Master's (25-5, 16-2) will play against the Vanguard-William Jessup winner at 7:30 p.m.
The championship game will be on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
"Hope is a really tough match-up for us," said Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore after the game. "They played really again, just like they did at their place. It really tested us tonight."
"I am particularly proud of our two captains, Lauren Tsuneishi and Maud Ranger, because of their leadership and composure. The made big plays on both ends of the floor. They were not going to let us lose this game. The especially wanted to get a win for our senior, Roberta Hays."
Hays was honored prior to the game for her contributions to Westmont Women's Basketball.
"Something Roberta has brought our program day in and day out is enthusiasm and 'teamism'," said Moore. "I think that is something we played with as a group to honor her. We were close-knit, had great energy and problem solved out there together. We made enough plays down the stretch to get a win."
Sydney Brown led the way for the Warriors in tonight's win, tallying a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds. She also contributed four assists, two blocks and a steal. Brown had four of Westmont's 16 offensive rebounds with fellow freshman post Kaitlin Larson tallying five offensive boards. Larson recorded nine points and nine rebounds.
"Syd was relentless on the boards and I am proud of her attacking mentality right from the beginning of the game," said Moore. "She got a lot of extra possessions for us on the glass. We need that from her as we head into the postseason. She is capable of so much and she showed that tonight."
As a team, Westmont outrebounded Hope International 40-30 including a 16-9 margin on the offensive end. Those offensive boards led to a 13-10 advantage of second-chance points, which proved to be the difference in the game.
Ranger tallied 13 points and five rebounds for the Warriors while going four of five from three-point range. Tsuneishi made three of eight from long range on her way to 11 points. Tsuneishi, who is listed as 5-1 on the roster, also contributed two blocks.
The game remained close throughout with neither team holding more than an eight-point lead. In the first half, Hope International led for all but the first three and one-half minutes. With 11 seconds left in the second quarter, Stefanie Berberabe scored on a jumper in the paint to cut the Royals lead to 25-23 going into the intermission.
After the break, Kaitlin Larson scored to tie the game at 25, the first of Westmont's 18 points in the third quarter. Midway through the third frame, Westmont held a narrow 34-33 lead. Ranger scored the next seven points of the game, the first on a free throw and the rest of back-to-back threes, giving Westmont a 41-33 advantage. However, the Royals responded by closing out the quarter on a 7-2 run to make the score 43-40 with 10 minutes remaining in the game.
With five and one-half minutes to play, the Royals tied the game at 46 on a pair of free throws by Imari Clinton. Seconds later, Vinessa Perryman stole the ball and scored on a layup to give Hope a 48-46 lead.
A layup by Larson tied the game at 48 with 4:50 to play. Nearly a minute later, Berberabe scored on a layup to put Westmont up 50-48.
Another layup by Perryman tied the score at 50 before two free throws by Clinton put the Royals on top 52-50 with 2:53 to play.
Ranger drained another three on the Warriors' next possession to make the score 53-52 in Westmont's favor with 2:12 to play. With a minute and one-half remaining, Dakota Viena drained two free throws to return the lead to the Royals, 54-53. Ten seconds later, Berberabe fed the ball to Brown whose layup put Westmont on top 55-54.
Still down by one with 20 seconds to play, the Royals inbounded the ball on their own end of the court. The pass went to Perryman with Tsuneishi guarding. Tsuneishi stripped the ball away, forcing the Royals to foul. Tsuneishi drained both free throws with 12 seconds to play.
Hope took a couple of rushed three-point attempts, but neither fell and the buzzer sounded, announcing the Warrior win.
