Westmont Women’s Basketball put a scare into NCAA Division I opponent Pepperdine in the first half on Halloween night, but the Waves used 50% shooting from the floor in the second half to post a 61-47 exhibition victory over the Warriors.

Westmont held Pepperdine scoreless in the first four minutes while jumping out to a 6-0 lead. The Waves shot only 26.5% in the first half compared to 31.8% for the Warriors. But Westmont had trouble getting the ball inside against the much taller post players the Waves brought to the floor. The Warriors also contended with a 40-minute full court press.

Junior guard Jessica Case (6 points, 6 rebounds) opened the scoring for Westmont by hitting a three pointer from the top of the key in the first minute of play. Three minutes into the game, Case scored on a fastbreak, putting the Warriors up by six.

[box scores]

A year after posting the highest winning percentage in program history (.700, 21-9), Westmont women’s basketball is looking to build upon its success and take the program to new heights. A tough non-conference schedule and ten Golden State Athletic Conference teams stand in the Warriors’ way. Apparently, the other GSAC schools think the run for Westmont is over.

“We were picked to finish sixth,” said head coach Kirsten Moore, referring to the GSAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll. “Our team definitely sees that as a challenge. We feel really good about who we have coming back and even better now that we have started practicing and see what the new people will add. We think we will be better than we were last year. We finished fourth in conference last year and we are looking to improve on that mark.”

In order to accommodate a request from host California Baptist, the time for Saturday’s soccer games in Riverside has been moved up one hour. The women’s soccer game will kick off at noon with the men’s game scheduled to follow at 2:00 p.m.

The contests are the final Golden State Athletic Conference games of the regular season. In the men’s GSAC standings, Westmont (6-6-2, 3-4-2 GSAC) and California Baptist (7-6-3, 3-4-2 GSAC) are tied for sixth place with 11 points (three points for a win, one for a tie). Both teams have secured a place in the upcoming GSAC Tournament which will begin on Wednesday, November 5. Westmont will be on the road against an opponent and at a location yet to be determined.

Westmont head coach Jim Smoot has had trouble keeping his middle blockers healthy. Coming into tonight’s game, all but one had spent time on the bench with injuries - including two lost for the season. Tonight, as the Warriors battled #9 Azusa Pacific (19-8, 9-6 GSAC), senior Katie Sharp, the lone holdout among the middle blockers to remain healthy, crumbled to the floor after landing on a teammate’s ankle in the first set.

Despite losing Sharp for at least the balance of tonight’s game, the Warriors gave the Cougars a difficult time. After losing the first set 25-22, Westmont (9-17, 3-12 GSAC) rallied to post a 25-17 win in set number two. But the Cougars prevailed in the next two sets 25-21 and 25-22 to claim the 3-1 win in the Golden State Athletic Conference match.

[box scores]

Tuesday proved to be a day filled with good results for Westmont Men’s Soccer (6-6-2), even though the team didn’t take the field. While the Warriors enjoyed a bye, the rest of the Golden State Athletic Conference teams provided the best results possible for Westmont. As a result, Westmont secured a place in the upcoming GSAC Tournament.

The day began with Westmont and the Lancers of California Baptist tied for sixth place in the conference standings with 11 points (three points for a win, one for a loss). The Warriors, along with the Lancers earned the playoff berth as the result of a 3-0 loss by Hope International to #12 Azusa Pacific and a 2-1 loss by Point Loma to #7 Concordia. With only one conference game remaining, neither Hope nor Point Loma will be able to catch Westmont or California Baptist in the standings.

In recognition of her performances in last week’s games, Westmont’s Amanda Barret has been named the Golden State Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week for women’s soccer. The junior defender, who hails from Temecula, helped the #19 Warriors achieve two shutouts last week and scored twice against San Diego Christian.

“Our back four has really become the foundation of our team,” said head coach Dave Wolf. “That was solidified when we moved Amanda to a defensive position. It’s the part of the field where you tend not to make very many changes, but we felt it was necessary to make ourselves as strong as we could be in the back. Once she got there, the backs became a strong, cohesive group which doesn’t give up many goals.”

Barret is joined in the Warriors’ defense by Skyla Lauda in a central defender position as well as Kayla Barkett and Jessica Zuehlsdorf at the outside back positions.

“It says something about her attitude that she was willing to go to the back,” said Wolf. “She likes to go forward and we’ve had to rein her in a little bit. But we give her chances on set pieces and she capitalized twice - once on a corner, once on a free kick.”

Senior Jake Joyner made the most of Senior Day by scoring twice in Westmont Men’s Soccer’s 4-0 win over San Diego Christian (2-12, 0-8 GSAC) on Saturday at Russ Carr Field. The Warriors (6-6-2, 3-4-2 GSAC) pounded away at the Hawks’ goal, producing a 30-5 shot advantage including 12-0 shots-on-goal.

“We played a lineup today which was more attack oriented,” said head coach Dave Wolf. “We started Hugo (Pizano) and Tony (Niboli) together (in the central midfield). They want to play together and we are at our best when we are playing together, but we have to take care of our defending responsibilities. When you play with three forwards and then those two together, it is a much more attack-oriented line up. Today was a day that we felt that we could do that. It produced lots of chances. I thought Hugo was especially on his game passing the ball today.”

[box scores]

Amanda Barret, who is a key component in Westmont’s defensive strategy, contributed offensively on Saturday as the #19 Warriors (7-6-2, 6-2-1 GSAC) defeated the Hawks of San Diego Christian (3-11, 0-8 GSAC) by a score of 4-0 in a Golden State Athletic Conference match-up. Barret scored two goals, one at the start of each half, to help the Warriors secure the victory on Senior Day.

“In pre-game, we talked about how the seniors will have a legacy of things which they brought to the team,” reported Barret. “We just wanted to go out there, play with our seniors, have fun and play well.”

[box scores]