By Ron Smith
February 1, 2020
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Women's Basketball (17-3, 10-1 GSAC), picked up another win today, defeating Ottawa of Arizona (10-9, 3-8) by a score of 70-48. The victory came despite what Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore described as, "not the smoothest offensive game for us. We had really good looks but struggled finding the bottom of the net today."
 
What kept the Warriors in the game until the offense kicked in was a stellar performance on the boards. The Warriors pulled down 54 rebounds to Ottawa's 45, even though the Spirit rank second in the NAIA in total rebounds per game (47.72).
 
Leading the charge on the boards were Kaitlin Larson, whose 21 rebounds are the fourth most in Westmont single-game history, and Maud Ranger who posted a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds.
 
"The effort by Kaitlin and Maud on the boards was amazing," noted Moore.
 
In addition, the Warriors took care of the ball, recording 17 assists to only three turnovers. The Warriors lead the NAIA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.94 and have five players ranked in the top-20 for the individual assist-to-turnover statistical category.
 
In two games this week, Westmont committed just seven turnovers.
 
"Single-digit turnovers in two games on a week is pretty good," acknowledged Moore. "We are a veteran team in that sense."
 
Defensively, Westmont held OUAZ's two leading scorers to a combined 11 points. Natasa Radovic (second in the GSAC) and Kirsten Shinske (fifth in the GSAC) average a combined 30.9 points per game.
 
Offensively, Westmont's Lauren Tsuneishi went six of 12 from downtown. On the week, she was 11 of 22 from beyond the arc in two games. Tsuneishi and Ranger, who made four 3-point shots of her own, are each averaging 3.15 made 3-pointers a game, which is fifth best in the NAIA.
 
Iyree Jarrett added 15 points and six assists to the Warriors' cause while Larson added nine points to her rebound production.
 
The Warriors remain in a first-place tie with #3 The Master's (22-1, 10-1) atop the GSAC standings. The Master's defeated Arizona Christian this afternoon by a score of 67-48. A game and one-half back is #6 Vanguard (16-3, 8-2). William Jessup (15-7, 8-3) is two games behind the leaders in fourth place.
 
Next week Westmont will host William Jessup on Thursday evening and Menlo on Saturday afternoon.