By Ron Smith
November 15, 2025
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Women's Basketball is off to a 2-0 start in the 2025-26 season after defeating the Yellowjackets of Montana State Billings (2-3) by a score of 63-38 on Saturday afternoon in Murchison Gymnasium. This is the first time since February 3, 2022 that the Warriors have held an opponent to under 40 points.
 
"First and foremost, I am incredibly proud of another gritty defensive performance tonight," said Westmont's head coach Kirsten Moore. "I just love the intensity our team is bringing to that end of the floor, and the growth in recognizing how important that is to our success.
 
"In a game where scoring didn't come easy, we were able to trust our toughness to come through defensively and on the boards and eventually that loosened things up offensively."
 
Both teams started slowly, with the first points coming just before the first media timeout. A second-chance basket by Billings' Kyla Momberg with 5:33 showing on the first-quarter clock gave the Yellowjackets their first and only lead of the game at 2-0.
 
At the 4:36 mark, Noemie Bariteau delivered Westmont's first points by draining a triple. After Billings came up empty on the other end of the court, Bariteau pulled up in the paint for a jumper, putting the Warriors up 5-2.
 
Alli Ligocki hit a three for Billings, tying the game at five, but Bariteau responded with another jumper, giving the Warriors a 7-5 advantage at the end of the opening frame. Westmont led the rest of the way.
 
In the second quarter, the Warriors found their offensive rhythm, outscoring Billings 22-10. Mariah Brown drained a couple of deep balls to tally six points in the quarter while Jazmyn Shipp and Maria Brown each added five to the Warrior cause. As a result, the Warriors took a 29-15 lead into intermission.
 
Sage Kramer provided the fire power in the penultimate period, in which the Warriors doubled up the Yellowjackets 18-9. Kramer went three for three in the frame, including two from 3-point range. Brown added six more, twice capitalizing on Billings turnovers.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Yellowjackets put on a bit of a run, but could not quite keep pace with the Warriors who outscored their opponent 16-14. Skyler Knight dropped in a pair of treys while Bailey Fong scored on a pair of layups.
 
Brown led all scorers with 14 points while Kramer added 13. For the second night in a row, all 10 Warriors who suited up added to the scoreboard.
 
Lisa Kiefer pulled down 11 rebounds to help the Warriors produce a 41-28 advantage on the boards  
 
"Offensively the synergy is showing with another balanced scoring attack and a positive assist to turnover ratio," observed Moore. "This weekend has really laid the foundation for what this group can accomplish this year. Now we need to take this mindset and toughness on the road for another tournament and see what we can do against two more challenging opponents."
 
The Warriors are headed to Nampa, Idaho for games on Friday and Saturday against host Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington.