By Ron Smith
November 15, 2024
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Women's Basketball (1-2) put on a show in its home opener, posting an 85-68 win over Northwest Nazarene of Idaho (2-2) in the first game of the PacWest-GNAC Conference Crossover. Junior transfer Noemie Bariteau recorded 29 points and junior Sage Kramer added another 21 to help lead the Warriors to their first win of the year.
 
"I was pleased with the attacking mentality that we came out with," said Westmont's head coach Kirsten Moore. "We knew we that we were going to see full court pressure and traps all game long. We faced that last game and struggled on the road. We were able to come home and work on that this week. I thought we handled it a lot better and I was very pleased with that."
 
The Warriors fell behind early, trailing 8-2 when Madeline Gebers connected from beyond the arc for the Nighthawks. However, Westmont responded with a 20-5 run to close out the opening frame, making it a 22-13 game.
 
"This is what we are capable of," noted Moore. "We have great guards and you saw Noemie step up. Right from the beginning she was attacking the rim. That was super helpful."
 
Bariteau made nine of 16 shots from the floor including five of 10 from 3-point range. She also added five assists to the Warrior cause.
 
"Kate Goostrey set the tone from the beginning for us," offered Moore. "She hit a number of shots to begin with, and her composure against their pressure and her leadership in so many ways was really helpful for us tonight."
 
Goostrey tallied 10 points – all in the first half of play.
 
"On the defensive end, Lisa Kiefer continues to make such a difference in the game and on the boards," pointed out Moore of the PacWest Defensive Player of the Week.
 
With another 13 rebounds in this afternoon's game, Kiefer is now averaging 11.7 rebounds per game.
 
The Warriors pressed their advantage in the second quarter, leading by as much as 20 when Bariteau drained a triple. At halftime, the Warriors held a 16-point advantage (45-29).
 
"Sage really got going in the second half," reported Moore. "It was a game where it was really hard to get any sort of momentum with the number of stoppages of play. It was hard to get some flow in the second half, but I thought Sage stepped up and helped us."
 
Of Kramer's 21 points, 15 were recorded in the second half. With under 40 seconds remaining in the penultimate period, Kramer scored from long distance, giving Westmont a 64-50 advantage headed into the fourth quarter.
 
With just over three minutes to play in the final frame, Westmont took its largest lead of the night (83-57) on a pair of free throws by Bariteau.
 
It was a game in which there were an abundance of free throw opportunities. With a combined 53 fouls called in the game, 65 trips were made to the free throw line. However, neither team gained a scoring advantage from the charity stripe. Westmont made 26 of 33 free throw shots (78.8%), while the Nighthawks made 25 of 32 (78.1%).
 
"There were a lot of positives from many people on our team," said Moore of the Warriors' performance. "We had great contributions off the bench. Navine Mallon gave us great minutes off the bench.
 
"We are new in playing together," stated Moore about her team. "As many new pieces as we have, with each game our confidence is going to grow with our knowledge of what each other is doing out there and getting more comfortable out there. I am so excited and have such belief in what this team can grow to become. We are just at the beginning of that growth curve and I was excited to see some growth since last game."
 
The Warriors will have a quick turnaround, taking on Central Washington (3-0) tomorrow at seven o'clock. The Wildcats defeated Vanguard (0-3) in the second game of the Crossover, winning by a score of 70-66.
 
"We are going to have a big battle on our hands tomorrow," acknowledged Moore. "Central Washington is a phenomenal team and has been playing really well. It is going to challenge us defensively and offensively. So we are going to regroup and try to come back and have another great effort tomorrow."
 
The Westmont-Central Washington game will follow a game between Vanguard and Northwest Nazarene which is scheduled to tip-off at 5:00 p.m.