By Ron Smith
February 21, 2026
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) A second-half surge lifted Westmont Women's Basketball (20-6, 16-4) to an 84-78 victory over the Penguins of Dominican (19-7, 13-7) on Saturday afternoon in Murchison Gymnasium. Westmont was outscored 46-38 in the first half, but rallied to outpace Dominican 46-32 after halftime to secure the 84-78 win.
 
Jazmyn Shipp came off the bench to lead the Warriors with 18 points while also pulling down five rebounds. Mariah Brown went three of six from 3-point range on her way to 17 points, four assists and three rebounds. Lisa Kiefer notched 14 points, 16 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks. Bailey Fong tallied 14 points, three rebounds, and two steals.
 
Westmont struggled offensively in the first quarter, making just 36.8% of their shots from the floor (7 of 19). The bright spot in the opening frame came in the final seconds. With nine seconds left, Dominican's Keyonee Neal completed a jumper under the basket to give the Penguins a five point advantage (21-16). Navine Mallon quickly inbounded the ball to Noemie Bariteau with six seconds showing on the clock. Bariteau dribbled down the right side of the court, then with 1.3 seconds remaining, launched a running triple from outside the "C" in "Kammerer Court". The ball bounced off the backboard and through the net to pull the Warriors within two (21-19).
 
That was the first 3-point bucket of the game for the Warriors who would eventually add eight more.
 
The Warriors' shooting improved considerably in the second quarter to 63.4% (7 of 11), but they were hampered by eight turnovers that gave them less opportunity to score. Defensively, Westmont had trouble containing the Penguins who tallied 25 points. Shipp and Brown combined for 17 of Westmont's 19 points in the second frame.
 
In the third quarter, Westmont turned things around, outscoring Dominican 26-14. After a 3-pointer by Neal to give the Penguins an 11-point lead (49-38), the Warriors scored the next seven points on a layup by Fong, and a trey followed by a layup from Brown. That pulled Westmont within four points (49-45) with 7:16 to play in the penultimate period.
 
At 5:29 on the clock, Kramer connected on a triple from the left wing, pulling Westmont within two (53-51). Alyssa Alvarado responded with a layup for Dominican, but Brown did the same on the Warriors' end to make the score 55-53 going into the media timeout at 4:14.
 
Westmont caught up to Dominican with four minutes left in the third. Kramer passed a ball from the left wing inside to Shipp. The sophomore dribbled twice, then connected on a hook shot to make the score 55-55. After a Penguin turnover, Shipp drained a three from the top of the key to give Westmont its first lead in 20 minutes of play.
 
The two teams matched each other shot for shot over the next two minutes. Then, with 1:27 to play in the quarter, Kiefer received a pass from Bariteau and completed the layup. A minute later, Brown passed the ball to Kiefer in the paint for another layup, giving Westmont a 64-60 advantage headed into the final 10 minutes of play.
 
Brown and Shipp had each accounted for seven points in the third quarter while Kiefer tallied five.
 
On the Warriors' first possession of the final frame, Bariteau hit another 3-point buzzer beater. With the shot clock at one, Bariteau buried a jumper from the right wing, putting Westmont up 67-61. Fong added two more on a layup before Neal connected on a jump shot. Then, Fong struck from beyond the arc on the right side.
 
After a steal by Kiefer on the defensive end, Brown drove toward the basket before passing off the Molly Garnand in the lane. Garnand hit the eight-foot jump shot, giving Westmont a double-digit advantage (74-63) with just over seven minutes to play.
 
The Penguins began to whittle into the Warrior lead until, with 54 seconds to play, Alvarado drained three free throws to pull Dominican within three points (81-78). That, however, was the end of Dominican's scoring. Westmont would add three more free throws (one by Kiefer, two by Brown) to account for the final score.
 
Fong led the way for the Warriors offensively in the fourth quarter, scoring eight points.
 
With the win, and a 90-84 overtime loss by Point Loma to Concordia, Westmont now has sole possession of second place in the PacWest standings. Westmont is one-half game behind first-place Vanguard (16-3) and a full game ahead of Point Loma and Azusa Pacific who have a conference record of 15-5 and are tied for third.
 
Those same two teams are the Warriors' final two opponents in the regular season. On Thursday, Westmont will travel to Azusa to take on the Cougars at the Felix Events Center. Then on Saturday, the Warriors will be in San Diego to match up with the Sea Lions at Golden Gymnasium.