Senior forward Kelsie Sampson tallied 27 points and six rebounds as #10 Westmont (16-7, 7-3 GSAC) defeated #15 Hope International (19-6, 7-3) by a score of 70-66 in the NAIA Women’s Basketball Game of the Week. Sampson, the current Golden State Athletic Conference player of the week, made 11 of her 23 shots from the floor.

“Kelsie played great against double and triple teams,” noted Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore. “She was able to maintain composure and still finish.”

Westmont’s Esther Lee added 15 points while Celina Gougis contributed 14 points, five rebounds and five assists. Lauren Sende came off the bench to post 10 points and seven rebounds.

Hope International was led in scoring by Alexis Perry who tallied 17 points and four rebounds. Andrina Rendon added 10 points and 12 boards while Shawna Staves notched 10 points and five boards.

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SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) A sour second-half shooting percentage against Hope International Saturday evening was enough to prevent Westmont Men’s Basketball from gaining ground in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings.

The Warriors (15-9, 4-6 GSAC) shot 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from the floor in the first period, which garnered them a two-point lead at the intermission. However, by the time the final horn sounded, the statistic had fallen significantly.

A dismal 7-of-24 (29.2 percent), 16-point performance in the latter half stalled Westmont’s offense. Consequently, the Warriors fell to the Royals by a score of 59-50.

With six different Royals connecting on six of Hope International’s first seven shot attempts, the visitors from Fullerton jumped out to an early 13-7 lead. Even so, the Warriors fastened their own spurt of points, utilizing a 14-2 run to retake the game 21-15.

(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) In the wake of a not-so-endearing 6-1 Valentine’s Day defeat at the racquets of NCAA Division I University of the Pacific (3-2), #12 Westmont Women’s Tennis’ record now stands at 2-3 (1-0 GSAC).

All three Pacific doubles teams registered victories, while the Tigers also earned wins in five of the six singles spots. Lauren Stratman, at number one singles, was the lone victor (6-2, 6-3) on the day for the Warriors.

“The big victory today was for Lauren,” declared Westmont head coach Kendyll McManigal. “She played her game the entire time and took down (Pacific’s) number one player. This was huge for her confidence and overcoming the nerves and pressure of being our best player. I was really proud of how she competed.”

Despite their losing record, the Warriors have acquired meaningful experience thus far, as four of their first five opponents have been non-NAIA affiliated squads. Accordingly, those four challengers have all come from the NCAA ranks, with two from division I (UOP and CSU Northridge), and one from both division II (#10 Fresno Pacific) and III (California Lutheran).

Five Westmont pitchers allowed just five hits over nine innings as Westmont Baseball (6-6) defeated Corban of Oregon (2-2) by the score of 7-2 on a beautiful afternoon at Russ Carr Field.

With a three-game Golden State Athletic Conference series starting tomorrow, Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz rested his usual starters both on the mound and in the infield. He also opted to pull his relief pitchers from among those who have seen less playing time.

Junior Shane Turner, a transfer from Missouri Baptist, started for Westmont but struggled with his control. After giving up two runs and loading the bases with two outs in the first inning, Turner was replaced on the mound by senior Devin Matson.

Matson coaxed a ground ball out of right fielder Lathan Alger to end Corban’s threat. He then went on to pitch four more innings, allowing just one hit. Matson would eventually be credited with the win.

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(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.) Riding the momentum of an upset victory against a tough Fresno Pacific squad, and coming off a 1-0 start in Golden State Athletic Conference play after throttling rival Biola, fourth-ranked Westmont Men’s Tennis hit the road Thursday with the motivation of overthrowing another high-ranking NCAA opponent.

After a three and a half hour contest with NCAA Division III #7 California Lutheran (1-1), perfection still abounds. Following a sweep of doubles play, the Warriors (3-0, 1-0 GSAC) took three-of-six matches in singles competition to secure a 6-3 victory, handing the Kingsmen – who finished last year 19-5 – their first loss of the season in their home opener.

“There was some see-saw action going on in doubles,” described Westmont head coach Mark Basham. However, our guys stepped up and prevailed, giving us a 3-0 lead to start the afternoon.”

Per Basham’s coaching specialty, Westmont is now 8-1 in doubles play through their initial three matches.

The Lions of top-ranked and undefeated Vanguard (20-0, 9-0 GSAC) topped #10 Westmont Women’s Basketball (15-7, 6-3) for the second time this season, posting a 68-56 Golden State Athletic Conference win in Costa Mesa. The loss drops the Warriors into fourth place in the conference standings, one game behind #9 The Master’s and #17 Hope International who have identical overall records of 19-5 and are tied for second in the GSAC standings at 7-2.

The Warriors enjoyed a 47-39 rebound advantage, but it was not enough to overcome a 12-8 turnover deficit or a field goal percentage deficit of 45.8 (27 of 59) to 30.8 (20 of 65). Westmont took 28 shots from three-point range but drained only eight. While the Warriors pulled down 21 offensive boards, they only tallied 11 second chance points.

Kelsie Sampson recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 14 rebounds. She also had three assists and three steals. Celina Gougis contributed 15 points, six rebounds and three assists while Esther Lee added 11 points to the Warrior cause. Lauren Sende recorded 10 rebounds and four points.

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(COSTA MESA, Calif.) Westmont Men’s Basketball journeyed south to Costa Mesa Tuesday in hopes of gifting #9 Vanguard their fourth loss on the 2014 campaign, and just their second in Golden State Athletic Conference play.

Yet, when the final buzzer sounded, it was the Lions (21-3, 8-1 GSAC) who handed the Warriors (15-8, 4-5 GSAC) something they haven’t seen the entire season – a deciding deficit of more than 11 points.

Vanguard’s leading scorer, and the GSAC’s second best competitor in points per game (18.6), guard Preston Wynne (22 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists), along with the GSAC’s fifth leading scorer (16), guard Chris Gorman (17 points, 2 rebounds, 9 assists), put on a shooter’s clinic, as the Lions dismantled the Warriors 80-58.

The duo combined to shoot 11-of-14 from downtown and 100 (4-of-4) percent from the charity stripe.

Westmont’s Kelsie Sampson was named the Golden State Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week on Monday. The 6-1 senior forward averaged 25.1 points and 10.0 rebounds in two games last week.

At Concordia on Tuesday night, Sampson made 12 of 26 shots from the field and 10 of 11 from the free throw line to score 34 points. The impressive total was the second highest single-game tally in her career and the fifth most points scored in a single game by any Warrior. Sampson also pulled down 13 rebounds in the game and dished off three assists.

On Saturday night, Sampson scored 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds against San Diego Christian in front of a home crowd. She also pilfered the ball three times.