Westmont College Athletics

By Ron Smith
December 12, 2020
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Junior post player Kaitlin Larson poured in 17 points and pulled down eight rebounds, but the Warriors lost to Long Beach State in today's exhibition by a score of 70-59. The game marked the third in the last week against NCAA Division I teams.
 
"So many things about Long Beach challenged us tonight," acknowledged Westmont Head Coach Kirsten Moore. "Their length, physicality and aggressiveness were really affective against us and we struggled to find open shots offensively. Kaitlin really battled inside and had a great game for us, but we just couldn't get her the ball enough."
 
Larson went eight for 10 from the field to lead the Warriors in scoring.
 
"I thought our defense in the first half really let us down," assessed Moore. "They, obviously, had a lot of weapons out there, but we needed to make them take tougher shots and didn't. I thought our defensive effort in the second half was much better. Although we won the second half, we just couldn't dig ourselves out of the hole."
 
Westmont played Long Beach even in the first quarter, tying the score at 17 when junior guard Stefanie Berberabe grabbed a rebound and put it back up just before the buzzer.
 
The second quarter, however, was Westmont's undoing. The Warriors were outscored 25-11 with Long Beach making 60 percent of their shots from the floor (9 of 15) including three of five from 3-point range. For the game, Long Beach drained nine of 18 attempts from beyond the arc.
 
Halftime adjustments allowed the Warriors to limit Long Beach offensively in the second half. Westmont outscored Long Beach 16-15 in the third quarter and 15-13 in the final frame.
 
Berberabe recorded 15 points for the Warriors with nine rebounds, five steals and four assists. Junior guard Iyree Jarrett added 14 points, three rebounds and four assists. Senior guard Lauren Tsuneishi posted nine points.
 
The Warriors are hoping to add a game to the schedule next week. For updates, please check the official Westmont Athletics website at athletics.westmont.edu.