By Ron Smith
November 22, 2025
 
(NAMPA, Idaho) Westmont Women's Basketball (2-2) suffered a 58-41 loss to West Region powerhouse Central Washington (4-0) in their second game at the GNAC-PacWest Crossover at Northwest Nazarene (Idaho).
 
"It was a tough game today," acknowledged Westmont's head coach Kirsten Moore. "Central Washington is a really tough, physical team that is well coached. They play with a lot of maturity. They made a deep run to the regional final last year and they played with that level of experience and maturity today on the court.
 
"We had some moments where I thought we battled with them. We had a great first quarter, especially defensively. They got loose in the second quarter and we weren't able to keep the same defensive presence the whole game."
 
Westmont had a quick turnaround after playing Northwest Nazarene on Friday night and then taking on Central Washington in an early afternoon game on Saturday.
 
Sage Kramer led the Warriors in scoring with 12 points while also pulling down eight rebounds.
 
"I am really proud of Sage for this whole weekend," expressed Moore. "Specifically, she showed a different level of defensive grit and toughness. She was guarding Asher Cai who has to be one of the best offensive players in Division II. She is a dynamic scorer. We did a good job on her, but we let them hurt us in other areas. Credit to them, they had a lot of people step up and I thought they played really well as a team."
 
Jazmyn Shipp tallied nine points and pulled down nine rebounds while Molly Garnand added another seven points to the Warrior cause.
 
The game started with both teams flexing their defensive prowess, resulting in an 8-8 tie after the first quarter of play. Westmont scored on a layup by Mariah Brown, and three-pointers by Shipp and Kramer.
 
At 10-10 in the second quarter, Central Washington went on a 12-0 run. After a triple by Garnand, the Wildcats added another five to push their advantage to 14 (27-13). By halftime, Westmont had whittled the deficit to 11 (29-18).
 
In the third quarter, the Warriors came within seven (35-28), but the Wildcats ended the quarter on a 10-2 run to hold a 45-30 advantage headed into the final frame. The Warriors would get no closer in the fourth quarter.
 
"My hope," noted Moore, "is that we will see in this level of competition, at this point in the season, the level we need to get to if we want to get the results we hope for this year. I hope our team responds and that this makes us better."
 
The Warriors return from Idaho on Sunday to prepare for two more non-conference games this week, both on the road. Those two games will be the final non-conference match-ups of the season. On Wednesday, the Warriors will head to Carson to take on the Toros of Cal State Dominguez Hills (0-3). Then on Saturday, Westmont will face off with the Coyotes of Cal State San Bernardino (2-2).