Junior forward Aysia Shellmire shot 50 percent from the field (7 of 14) on her way to a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds as #17 Westmont Women’s Basketball (16-3, 3-3 GSAC) posted a 88-76 Golden State Athletic Conference win over the Flames of Arizona Christian (4-15, 0-6).

Freshman forward Lauren McCoy also notched a double-double, recording 11 points and 10 rebounds while making five of seven attempts from the field. Senior guard Esther Lee (four of seven from three-point range) and senior guard Krissy Karr (four assists) each contributed 12 points to the Warrior cause.

Westmont never trailed in the game. Leading 8-7, Celina Gougis (7 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) and Lee combined for back-to-back threes and Shellmire added a layup to produce an 8-0 run and a 16-7 score. The Warriors went on from there to take a 51-30 lead at halftime. Westmont led by as much as 23 in the second half (79-56) with 5:47 to play.

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By Christy Cain

(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) It has been exactly ten weeks and four days since the Westmont men’s basketball team tipped off their 2014-15 season. This could be converted to 74 days, or (roughly) 1,776 hours. In basketball terms, it could be translated as 19 games so far this season. And for Westmont specifically, it’s been 13 wins and six losses.

A lot has happened in those 74 days.

When looking at the team back in November, some people could have found it easy to title them as “young” or “inexperienced”. It could have been easy to focus on the players that they graduated instead of this year’s talent. It could have been easy for people to look at their incredibly difficult schedule that was ahead of them and be skeptical of their ability to produce wins. It could have been easy to look at the GSAC Coaches’ Preseason Poll – where Westmont was picked to finished seventh out of the nine conference teams – and be uncertain of the men’s ability to climb the rankings.

Despite the circumstances that surrounded this season, the Westmont men never doubted themselves. Instead, they fully bought in to each other. From day one, they bought in to the idea of being the best that they could be. They bought in to the idea of pushing each other day-in and day-out during their practices. They bought into the concept of training up their six freshmen and growing their underclassmen into leaders. They bought in to the idea of not allowing outside circumstances to dictate their ability be to successful. They set their minds on the goals and dreams they had for this season.

But you know what? Dreams don’t work unless you do. And tonight, the Westmont Warriors went to work against #13 Arizona Christian University. In arguably the best battle of the season, the Warriors’ hard work paid off and they walked away with an 82-81 overtime win.

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With the sun having already set and twilight threating to suspend play, Westmont’s Will Barring delivered an RBI-single that capped off a sweep of the Flames of Bethesda (0-3).

“Our guys found a way to come out and win some ballgames,” said Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz. “This early in the season, you don’t expect things to be 100 percent, but we found a way to do enough to close out three games. It was a great team effort to come from behind and find a way to win that final game in the last inning.”

The Warriors (3-0) started the season on Friday with a 9-7 win over the Flames. Preseason NAIA All-American Russell Harmening (1-0) took the mound on opening day and delivered five innings of scoreless pitching. The junior right-hander allowed just three hits while facing 20 batters.

The Warriors tallied 14 hits on the day including home runs by Blake Matthias and David Gabel. Westmont also benefited from a triple by Austin Muller and doubles from Barring (2), Steven Pollex, Alex Bush and Alika McGuire.

[Friday box score] [Saturday game 1 box score] [Saturday game 2 box score]

By Christy Cain

(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) “There are two things that, if done well, will cause your team to win some basketball games. And those two things are: rebounding and playing defense. I thought our men did a great job at both of those this evening,” opened head coach John Moore about Westmont’s 75-49 victory of the San Diego Christian Hawks.

Despite not having played a game since last Thursday, the Westmont men stepped on the court tonight and went to work. The opening minutes of the game were a bit stop-and-go for both teams, but once the Warriors hit their stride, there was no looking back.

Westmont played fundamental basketball the entire way through. They were making quick moves, sharp turns and hard passes. They were moving the ball and getting it to open shooters. While it took some time to build a lead, the Warriors seemed to focus on capitalizing on transition plays to get points on the board.

“What is important to me is that we finished the first half well. In the last five minutes of the first half, we built a 12 point lead and even had a three pointer to go up by 15. We were focused on finding the right combinations and plays that would work for us” reflected Moore. “We were able to correct some things before halftime and really, really finished well.”
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Sometimes your offense doesn’t work. For the first five minutes and 20 seconds of #17 Westmont Women’s Basketball’s Golden State Athletic Conference game against the Hawks of San Diego Christian (6-12, 2-4 GSAC), Westmont (15-3, 2-3) couldn’t buy a basket. The Warriors missed on their first nine field goals and two free throws.

The good news for the Warriors is that their defense was firing on all cylinders. While Coach Kirsten Moore was trying different plays and different personnel to ignite the offense, the Warrior defense allowed just four points.

“Defense led the way for us tonight,” said Moore, whose team posted a 78-46 win. “To hold them to single digits for basically the whole first half was a great defensive effort by our players to get in passing lanes and not let them run their offense. We were able to play off of that defense on the offensive end.”

Westmont’s offense entered the game with Aimee Brakken (10 points). Shortly after coming off the bench, Brakken drove to the basket, pulled up in the lane and hit an eight-footer for the Warriors’ first points of the game. She also drew a foul a from the Hawks’ Angela Pena (13 points, 3 rebounds) and converted for an old-fashioned three-point play. On the next possession, Brakken drained a three-pointer from the angle to put the Warriors up 6-4 and spark a 23-0 run.”

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By Christy Cain

It is scientifically proven that if you pour salt on a slug, it causes severe dehydration that sucks the water and (ultimately) the life out of the small creature. But tonight, when the Westmont Warriors took the court against the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, they learned that- while salt may not work in this particular situation- there is something else that can effectively suck the life out of the Slugs: Defense. It was due to their aggressive defensive efforts that Westmont was able to finish with a 66-50 victory tonight.

Thankfully, the Warriors were anything but sluggish as they took the court this evening. They were playing well-rounded and focused basketball the entire time. “From the very beginning, we played really good defense that held our opponents to just 16 points in the first half. In turn, we were up by 20 at the half which gave us an advantage that helped us eventually walk away with another road win,” opened John Moore.

Westmont was performing well both offensively and defensively throughout the game. By halftime, the Warriors were shooting at a 48 percent clip from the field, sinking 14 of their 19 shots.

While the team’s offense was sound, defense is what won this game tonight. “Nate Marsing led our defense tonight. He was spectacular on the court. He scored eight points, had six defensive rebounds and truly was the captain of our ship this evening,” raved Moore after the game.

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Offensive production was hard to come by on Thursday night in Kaiser Permanente Arena, but #16 Westmont Women’s Basketball found just enough to post a 43-40 win over UC Santa Cruz.

“Tonight was one of the ugly, grind out kind of wins that you have to get,” said Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore. “But, the fact that we got a ‘W’ is a credit to the grittiness of the team. It was definitely a defensive struggle, but both teams were also struggling offensively to make good shots. It was tough to get the ball to go down.”

The Warriors shot just 27.1 percent from the floor (16 of 59) but it was more than the Banana Slugs who managed just 23.4 percent. Three-point shots would not fall for either team as the Warriors were two of 18 from beyond the arc and the Slugs were one of 18.

The game started out well for the Warriors who jumped out to a 9-2 lead on three field goals by Esther Lee (including a three) and two free throws from Aysia Shellmire (10 points, 8 rebounds). The Slugs, however, went on a 10-2 run to take a 12-11 lead at the 11:00 minute mark of the first half.

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By Christy Cain

(ROCKLIN, Calif.) The Westmont Warriors (10-6, 3-1 GSAC) headed up north earlier this week for a two game road series. They certainly started the trip off well with a 67-58 win over the William Jessup Warriors (9-8, 1-4 GSAC) this evening.

Daniel Carlin opened up the offense for Westmont tonight by scoring their first six points of the game. From there, it was a process of moving the ball around, spreading William Jessup’s defense and getting the ball to our open shooters.

While William Jessup tied the ballgame four times in the opening 20 minutes, they were never able to regain their footing and take the lead. Going into halftime, Westmont was leading 34-24.

When the final twenty minutes started winding down on the clock, William Jessup’s team stepped up their game and intensity. They began to sink shots that helped them close the point deficit. With 12 minutes left in the game, the William Jessup Warriors, look the lead by two points. This was a turning point for Westmont who then not only stepped up their defense, but responded with an 8-0 run that gave them the momentum to close out the game.

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