By Ron Smith
February 19, 2021
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) With a 60-44 win over #12 Vanguard (5-3, 2-3 GSAC) on Friday night in Murchison Gymnasium, #4 Westmont Women's Basketball (7-1, 4-0) have clinched the Golden State Athletic Conference West Regular Season Championship and earned an automatic berth into the NAIA National Championships.
 
The Warriors came out strong, powering their way to a 31-14 lead in the first 15 minutes of play.
 
"I thought we had a really great start in the first quarter," said Moore. "We were able to get a lot of momentum and were clicking on all cylinders – inside out, offensively, defensively. It was kind of a flip-flop from the game at Vanguard on Tuesday where we had such a struggle in the first quarter and had to work our way from behind.
 
"Today, we built a lead and then they made a run. They are a really tough team, a really physical team. I think that challenged us in a good way – having to respond to that and battle on the boards. It challenged us with things, I think, are really important as we look at the opportunity to play in the postseason. Both these games against Vanguard have been tough battles and good games for us.
 
The Lions closed out the second quarter on a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to nine points (33-24) at halftime. With 6:49 remaining in the third quarter, Vanguard pulled to within five (35-30) on an old-fashioned three by Airiana Madanski.
 
However, Westmont closed out the third quarter on a 17-2 run to take a 52-32 lead into final frame. Lauren Tsuneishi tallied eight points during the run on two 3-pointers and a pair of free throws. Berberabe added a pair of field goals, Iyree Jarreet added a three and Brown contributed a layup.
 
Vanguard could get no closer than 14 the rest of the way.
 
Berberabe paced the Warriors with 20 points on, making nine of 14 from the field.
 
"Stefanie led the way for us offensively, but also defensively," noted Moore. "She was guarding their leading scorer, getting steals and getting on the boards. She has been playing phenomenally, especially this series."
 
Tsuneishi added 14 points, while Destiny Okonkwo posted eight points, eight rebounds and two steals.
 
"Destiny gave us really great physicality inside to match them on the boards," assessed Moore. "I thought our post defense was a lot better tonight. We battled on the boards for 17 offensive rebounds. As always, you are seeing really good teamwork out there with lots of people contributing. We had 16 assists to only eight turnovers."
 
By contrast, the Lions had the opposite – eight assists to 16 turnovers.
 
Tomorrow afternoon, the Warriors and Lions will meet for the third time this week. Prior to the game, Westmont will honor three seniors – Lauren Tsuneishi, Taylor Rarick and Krissy Miyahara.
 
"Tomorrow is a really big day for us," said Moore. "Because of COVID, we haven't had that many opportunities to play and especially against top-25 level teams - national tournament caliber teams. We have to keep using this to get better.
 
"We also have a lot to play for in terms of our seniors. We have three women who are potentially playing their last game in Murchison Gymnasium. We want to send them out playing our best basketball in our last scheduled home game."
 
Unfortunately, due to state and local mandates, spectators will not be admitted to the game. However, fans can follow the action, including the senior day celebration, through the Westmont Sports Network broadcast. The stream can be accessed online at https://athletics.westmont.edu/video, or by tuning into the game on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV or Roku.