Lions post impressive win

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Vanguard 90, La Verne 50

COSTA MESA — Senior Paige Halberg tallied 15 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals to lead the No. 10-ranked host Lions in the nonconference season opener for both teams Saturday.

Freshman Jordanna Smith had 13 points and nine rebounds, while Veronica Beavor and Alison Drennan contributed 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Vanguard forced 32 turnovers and held the Leopards to 28.3% field-goal shooting.

The Lions produced seven of their 12 three-pointers in the final 7:22 of the first half to close the half on a 29-10 run.

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Utah State 69, UC Irvine 64

IRVINE — Junior Jazmyne White scored 20 points in 22 minutes and converted 10 of her 14 field-goal tries for the host Anteaters in the nonconference game Saturday at the Bren Events Center.

Sophomore Jasmine Bernard came off the bench to produce 13 points and six rebounds in 12 minutes, while freshman Methlyn Onogomuho had 11 points, six rebounds and four steals for UCI (0-4).

The Aggies (3-1) made 22 of 27 foul shots to overcome 24 turnovers.

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WOMEN’S SOCCER

Orange Coast 1, Cerritos 0

NORWALK — Sophomore Jessica Parker scored in the 24th minute on an assist by sophomore Nicole Vanderlaan and the No. 16-seeded Pirates held on to upset the No. 1-seeded Falcons, ranked No. 1 in the nation, in the first round of the California Community College Athletic Assn. Southern California Regionals on Saturday at Cerritos College.

Freshman Katie O’Banion had six saves to record the shutout, which propels the Pirates (14-4-4) to Tuesday’s regional quarterfinal against either San Diego Mesa or Miramar.

Cerritos finishes 20-2.

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WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Vanguard def. La Sierra

COSTA MESA — Senior Jamie Heenan had a match-high 13 kills as the Lions swept, 25-14, 25-14, 25-17, in the opening round of the NAIA Tournament at The Pit on Saturday night.

Heenan had no hitting errors and hit .722 for No. 14 Vanguard (22-12). KaUwila Lavea added 11 kills for the Lions, and Alexandra Leja had 20 assists.

The Lions advance to the NAIA final site of Sioux City, Iowa, where round-robin play begins Nov. 29. The final site schedule will be announced Monday.

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Long Beach State def. UC Irvine

LONG BEACH — UC Irvine sophomores Aly Squires and Shaina Olsen each had seven kills but the conference champion 49ers won the Big West Conference finale, 19-25, 25-16, 25-15, 25-17, on Saturday.

Mary Carls had 20 assists and Kristin Winkler 12 digs for the Anteaters (10-18, 4-12 in conference). UCI concludes its regular season Nov. 26 at Crawford Court, against Central Michigan.

Long Beach State improved to 20-6, 14-2.

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MEN’S BASKETBALL

Vanguard 78, Cal Tech 63

COSTA MESA — Senior reserve guard Chris Pynch scored 14 second-half points to help the host Lions prevail in the nonconference game Saturday.

Cal Tech (0-1) led, 41-39, early in the second half, but Vanguard (3-2) went on a 12-0 run and hit 16 of its final 19 foul shots to prevail.

Junior Kelly Taylor had a team-high 15 points, while senior Chris Raybon chipped in 14 points, eight rebounds, thee assists and two steals for the winners.

Todd Cramer had 24 points for the Beavers.

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Weber State 80, UC Irvine 72

IRVINE — Junior guard Daman Starrang scored a career-high 21 points for the host Anteaters in Saturday’s nonconference game at the Bren Events Center.

Juniors Michael Wilder and Derik Flowers added nine points apiece for UC Irvine (0-3) in its home opener. Freshman guard Aaron Wright had eight points and seven rebounds.

Junior guard Damian Lillard scored a game-high 27 points for Weber State (3-0).

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CROSS-COUNTRY

NAIA Championships

VANCOUVER, Wash. — Vanguard University freshman Cameron Barela finished 39th in the men’s event, while senior Lions Kimberly Jennings and Chelsea Scott were 47th and 70th, respectively, on Saturday.

Barela completed the 8,000-meter course in 25 minutes, four seconds.

Jennings finished the 5,000-meter course in 18:52, while Van Cott’s time was 19:10.

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MEN’S WATER POLO

CWPA National Invitational

RIVERSIDE — Vanguard University split its games Saturday at the season-ending tournament hosted by Cal Baptist, falling to Concordia, 14-8, before getting past Fresno Pacific, 11-10.

Vanguard freshman Jason Lee scored the game-winner with three seconds left to beat Fresno Pacific. Lee scored a game-high three goals, while Israel Perez and Sean Little had two each.

The Lions finish their season 12-23.