Women’s Basketball: Lions denied GSAC crown

FULLERTON — The Vanguard women’s basketball team clearly got better the last five days. Now, as the Lions prepare to make their 15th straight appearance in the NAIA Tournament, it’s the competition, at least for a while, that may actually get worse.

Playing an opponent ranked in the top five nationally for the second time in three Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament games, the No. 6-ranked, but No. 3-seeded Lions finally came up short in the title game against regular-season champion Westmont on Tuesday at Hope International University.

The top-seeded Warriors (28-3), ranked No. 2 in the NAIA, pulled away for a 67-58 win in the rubber game of three meetings with Vanguard (24-6) this season.

Vanguard knocked off No. 5-ranked The Master’s in Saturday’s semifinals to check off the last team it had yet to beat in what is annually one of the nation’s most challenging conferences. It was the only GSAC team to beat Westmont this season, posing a 67-57 triumph at home on Jan. 26.

“Not everybody gets to play two of the top five teams in the country when getting ready to go play at nationals,” said Vanguard Coach Russ Davis, who has guided the Lions to the national tournament 18 times in 20 seasons. “I feel like we’re getting better.”

The Lions erased a 9-2 deficit to lead by as many as four in the second quarter and were knotted at 41-41 midway through the third period. But a three-pointer with 4:32 left in the third put the Warriors up for good and the top three-point-shooting team in the country (39.1% coming in) made its first three three-point attempts of the fourth quarter and finished eight for 16 from beyond the arc to claim its 11th straight victory.

Vanguard received double-doubles from senior first-team All-GSAC performer Melissa Norman (14 points and 12 rebounds), as well as emerging junior reserve Claire Lamunu (16 points and 10 boards), and posted a 40-33 advantage on the glass.

But the Lions finished two for 13 from threedom (one for 11 after halftime) and, to the consternation of Davis, shot just seven foul shots, making four.

Vanguard entered the game averaging 25.6 free-throw attempts a game and its 743 foul shots coming in ranked No. 4 in the nation.

“We got their [two starting post players] in foul trouble [two fouls each in just more than seven minutes], but after that, we couldn’t get a call,” Davis said.

Westmont was 15 for 20 from the foul line and mixed masterfully created open looks from the perimeter with aggressive drives to the basket to deny the Lions their ninth GSAC Tournament crown.

“[The Warriors] out-executed us and we didn’t follow our game plan,” Davis said.

Westmont earned the defensive edge as well, contesting nearly every shot and limiting the four Vanguard starters other than Norman to 15 combined points on seven-for-23 shooting from the field, and zero free-throw attempts.

Norman was four for six from the line and Lamunu missed her only foul shot.

“[Westmont] made 11 more free throws and we lost by nine,” Davis said.

It was the 12th double-double in 13 games for Norman, whose 21 double-doubles lead the NAIA. She had a streak of 11 straight double-double games broken in the semifinal win.

Lamunu, who posted double-doubles in all three tournament games, made eight of 13 field-goal tries (61.5%) in the title game. The springy 6-foot-1 junior transfer from Uganda averaged 15.7 points and 11 rebounds in the tournament, in which she shot 63.3% from the field (19 for 30).

“Claire [who averaged 6.1 points and 6.2 rebounds in the regular season] was awesome,” Davis said. “She kept us in the ballgame.”

Lamunu, who had two points at halftime, made five of six field-goal attempts in the third quarter and was eight for nine from the field spanning the end of the first half to early in the fourth period.

Westmont senior Krissy Karr, the GSAC Player of the Year, also came up big. The darting 5-6 point guard had 18 points and five assists and was at her best in the fourth quarter.

Vanguard, which lost senior point guard Lauren Martin to season-ending knee surgery after seven games this season, struggled to create consistent offense.

“We’ve played without a point guard the whole season,” Davis said. “[Junior Maya Kennedy] has done a great job, but she’s a shooting guard. Against good teams, you have to execute and we struggled to execute.”

Reserve point guard Kandyce Smith, a sophomore transfer from UNLV, had 10 points and matched Kennedy (seven points) for team-high honors with three assists.

Pairings for the NAIA Tournament, March 16-22 in Independence, Mo., will be announced Wednesday.

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GSAC Tournament

Final

Westmont 67, Vanguard 58

SCORE BY QUARTERS

VU – 14 – 17 – 14 – 13 – 58

Wmt – 16 – 16 – 16 – 19 – 67

VU – Norman 14, Goff 0, Doucette 8, Kennedy 7, Hartvich 0, Lamunu 16, Smith 10, Tabron 3.

3-pt. goals – Kennedy 1, Tabron 1.

Fouled out – Norman.

Technicals – None.

Wmt – Shellmire 12, McCoy 11, Karr 18, Chan 8, Brakken 6, Haskin 8, Sato 4.

3-pt. goals – Karr 3, Brakken 2, Chan 2, Sato 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.