By Ron Smith
March 1, 2019
 
(ATHERTON, Calif.) Down by eight points with four minutes to play, #5 Westmont (23-7) went on a 14-0 run to defeat #21 Arizona Christian (21-11) by a score of 79-74 in the semifinals of the Golden State Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament. Four Warriors scored in double figures to help Westmont overcome a 31-point performance by Courtney Christmas, the NAIA's leading scorer who averages 23.4 points per game.
 
"Arizona Christian is such a tough match-up for us," said Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore. "They have such incredible scorers. Courtney Christmas was not only an incredible scorer all year, but she is playing like a senior right now. She was making tough shots and I give her credit for how she played. We don't have any one person who can guard her, so we changed up defenses and that enabled us to get some turnovers by being scrappy. We have a team that plays their heart out and I think you could see that on the defensive end of the floor."
 
Teamwork was the key on the offensive end for the Warriors. Iyree Jarrett led Westmont in scoring with 21 points while tacking on six assists and two steals. Kaitlin Larson contributed 17 points and seven rebounds. Lauren Tsuneishi went four of five three three-point range while tallying 15 points and Stefanie Berberabe notched 11 points, five assist and two steals.
 
"Each person has different strengths, different skills that they bring to a team," explained Moore. "Throughout the season, we are trying figure out how those pieces fit together to get each person doing what they do best and then working together with their teammate's strengths. When you can figure out what those are and everyone does their job really well, then that is when you create this incredible synergy where we become better than the sum of our parts."
 
The Warriors found themselves trailing most of the game. Each time Westmont would pull close or take a small lead, the Firestorm would go on a run and re-establish an advantage. Only once did the deficit reach ten-point, but nonetheless, it the accuracy of Arizona Christian's shooting (51.9 percent from the floor, 46.7 percent from three-point range and 81.3 percent from the charity stripe) presented a formidable obstacle for the Warriors.
 
The Warriors entered the third quarter down 36-31 and despite twice taking a brief lead, were still down by five (53-48) with a minute and one-half remaining in the frame. A pair of free throws by Larson and two more by Gabriella Stoll (6 points, 5 rebounds) brought Westmont to within one (53-52). However, with 50 seconds showing on the clock, Jac Moody sank two free throws to restore a three-point advantage to the Firestorm (55-53).
 
Berberabe was fouled on the Warrior's next possession and connected on the second of two free throw attempts. Berberabe then turned Grinch and stole the ball from Christmas, drove to the basketball and completed the layup to tie the game at 55 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
In the final period, Arizona Christian outscored Westmont 17-9 in the first six minutes to take a daunting 72-64 lead. However, the Warriors were not done.
 
An offensive rebound lead to a three-pointer by Larson, her second of the night. After a miss by the Firestorm, Sydney Brown (3 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks) came down with the rebound and Jarrett scored on a layup to make the score 72-69.
 
Christmas attempted a layup on Arizona Christian's end of the floor, but Brown blocked the shot, which led to a Firestorm turnover. On the Warriors' offensive end, Berberabe drove to the hoop but saw Tsuneishi open and kicked the ball out to her in the corner. Tsuneishi buried the three, tying the score at 72 with 1:55 to play.
 
Westmont's defense stiffened again, resulting in another turnover by the Firestorm. On the ensuing Westmont possession, Berberabe fed Tsuneishi again and the sophomore drained her fourth three-pointer of the night, putting Westmont on top 75-72 with 35 seconds left in regulation.
 
"We all just wanted to win," said Tsuneishi. "We worked so hard to catch up and get such a great lead. Iyree had so many great steals and pushes and Stef was driving to the rim. It was so fun to see them working so hard. They stepped up so everyone stepped up and it was awesome to see."
 
Just seventeen seconds later, Berberabe pilfered the ball again, for her fourth steal of the game, forcing Arizona Christian to begin fouling to keep the clock from expiring.
 
However, the Firestorm had only committed one previous foul in the period, meaning that Westmont would take the ball out of bounds instead of shooting free throws. Arizona Christian had to commit three more fouls before forcing Westmont to the charity stripe in an effort to get possession of the ball. Seven more second expired from the clock before Tsuneishi stepped to the line and sank both attempts, giving Westmont a 77-72 lead with 15 seconds showing on the game clock.
 
A missed three-pointer by Arizona Christian was rebounded by Brown, who was fouled with nine seconds to play. Brown sank the first of her two free throws to make the score 78-72.
 
With three seconds left, Kelsey Miranda would finally break the Warriors' run by making two free throws, cutting Westmont's advantage to 78-74. However, it would not be enough. Jarrett would add one more free throw with 1.8 seconds left to play, and the final horn would sound with the Warriors rejoicing.
 
The Warriors will take on take on #5 The Master's in tomorrow's championship game. The Mustangs advanced to the final with a 64-56 win over #12 Vanguard in the other semifinal.
 
The two teams split in the regular season with the Mustangs prevailing 58-48 on January 12 in Santa Clarita and Westmont winning 49-46 in Santa Barbara on February 16.
 
Westmont has won the last three GSAC Tournament Championships and has an opportunity to become the first women's basketball program in GSAC history to win four GSAC Tournament titles in a row. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.