By Ron Smith
December 3, 2025
 
(IRVINE, Calif.) Westmont Women's Basketball (5-2) started PacWest play with a 66-40 win over the Golden Eagles of Concordia (2-4, 0-1) on Wednesday evening at the CU Arena. Jazmyn Shipp tallied 18 points and seven rebounds while Sage Kramer notched a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds.
 
"It was a really gritty effort tonight against a team that plays pretty hard and is very physical," said Westmont's head coach Kirsten Moore. "We knew we were going to have to work together to handle their pressure and their press. I was proud of our players for problem solving and working together.
 
"It was hard in the first half to get a shot to go down. We had a lot of open looks that weren't going in. During those stretches, we were able to rely on our defense, which is great. Even when shots aren't falling offensively, we want to be a team that can rely on our defense. I thought we took a big growth step in that tonight."
 
Contributing to that defense was Lisa Kiefer – the reigning PacWest Defensive Player of the Week - who tallied 18 rebounds and three steals to go along with seven points. She also produced a crowd-awing block in the third quarter.
 
"Mariah Brown did a phenomenal job leading us in everything we did out there tonight with seven assists, handling the press, getting us into our offense, making people around her better and maintaining composure," offered Moore. "She was great in her minutes out there.
 
"Mariah is growing in her composure and not being in a hurry to find people when she draws others. She continues to grow in her ability to get her teammates open looks and make plays for them. It has been fun to see her confidence grow in that.
 
"She is also shooting the ball great when she is open – she was two for three from 3-point range tonight – and she had five rebounds. She does a little bit of everything out there, but most importantly, she leads us in toughness and grit. Her mentality and her leadership at the point guard position has been great.
 
"Jaz came off the bench and got us going offensively, which was awesome. Sage had some determined buckets off of o-boards."
 
After giving up the first points of the game on a 3-point shot by Concordia's Myia Collins, Westmont rattled off the next 14 points. Brown answered with a triple before Kramer grabbed an offensive rebound and scored her first points on a second-chance layup.
 
Shipp, who entered the game with 5:53 remaining in the opening frame, scored the next six points – all from the paint. Kramer added another layup and a free throw to finish off the 14-0 run.
 
Concordia's Genesis Hopkins scored on an old-fashioned three-point play to complete the first quarter scoring, making the score 14-6 in favor of the Warriors at the end of 10 minutes of play.
 
The second quarter opened with Westmont taking its first double-digit lead (16-6) on a field goal by Shipp. However, the Golden Eagles rallied with a 9-0 run, pulling within one point of the Warriors (16-15). Over the balance of the quarter, however, Westmont outscored their hosts 10-7 to take a four-point lead into the halftime locker room.
 
At the start of the second half, Concordia once again came within a point after Ashari Cassell struck from beyond the arc to make the score 26-25. Once again, the Warriors pulled away, going on a 14-3 run to recapture a double-digit advantage at 40-28. By the end of the third quarter, Westmont held a 44-30 lead.
 
The Warriors kept their momentum in the fourth quarter, scoring the first 12 points to go up 56-30. Westmont's largest lead of the game came after a steal by Brown turned into a fast break bucket by Skyler Knight to put the Warriors on top by 28 points (63-35) with 1:28 to play.
 
Westmont's final points came via a three-pointer by Noemie Bariteau with 33 seconds left in regulation.
 
"It was good for us to go on the road to start conference and handle a tough and physical opponent tonight," assessed Moore. "I am looking forward to getting back home and playing some games in Murchison. I'm hoping people come out and watch some good basketball."
 
The Warriors will play their next four games at home, starting with a match-up against Menlo on Saturday, December 6. The game is part of a women's and men's doubleheader with the women tipping off at one o'clock and the men at three.