Women’s Basketball: Lions hammer La Sierra, 110-48

The Vanguard University women’s basketball team’s next three opponents are all ranked in the NAIA top 10. But the No. 3-ranked Lions didn’t worry about saving anything from Tuesday’s nonconference home victory.

Vanguard (4-0) was clicking on many levels on its way to a 110-48 thumping of visiting La Sierra of Riverside to leave 20-year coach Russ Davis both beaming and nostalgic.

“These stats remind me of the old days; the glory years,” Davis said of an all-around performance that was as impressive as the numbers would indicate.

Vanguard’s point total was its best in 79 games, since a 114-point output against Arizona Christian in January, 2013. The 62-point victory margin was the biggest in 42 contests, dating back to a 104-41 dismantling of Arizona Christian in February of 2014.

“We put together a good game,” said Davis, whose team led by as many as 65 and scored at least 25 points in each quarter. “We were hitting our shots and we made 80% of our free-throw attempts. And the best thing was, we had 22 assists and 10 turnovers.”

The glowing review included individual praise for starters Melissa Norman, Samantha Doucette and Jaime Goff, as well as reserve Maya Kennedy, who combined for 70 points.

Norman, a 6-foot-2 senior center who had 12 points in the opening quarter, made seven of 10 field-goal tries on her way to 20 points. She added five rebounds, a team-best three steals, one block and one assist in 26 minutes.

Doucette, a senior All-American forward, was six for 10 from the field, including two for three from three-point range. She also netted eight of 10 foul shots and shared game-high-rebounding honors with seven, also in 26 minutes.

Kennedy, a junior guard, was three for four from the field, made her only three-point attempt, netted six of eight free throws and had five of her six rebounds on the offensive end. Kennedy, who played 22 reserve minutes, added five assists and one steal.

Goff, a 6-1 junior forward, scored all 15 of her points in the fourth quarter and finished with seven rebounds, one steal and was seven for nine from the field in just 19 minutes.

Eleven of the 12 Lions who played scored and collected at least one rebound to help the hosts post a 45-18 rebounding advantage.

“This team has a lot of potential, because if we can shoot like that, we rebound,” Davis said. “And I thought we played hard, no matter what the score was tonight. I thought our bench gave us some great minutes.”

Senior reserve guard Lauren Martin had a game-high eight assists to go with nine points, four rebounds and two steals. She was two for two from the field, including one from threedom.

Vanguard shot 51.5% on 66 attempts, and seven players contributed to their nine-for-19 effort beyond the arc (47.4%). The Lions netted 33 of 41 from the foul line, taking one fewer attempt from the stripe than La Sierra (0-6) had from the field.

La Sierra had 23 turnovers and three Golden Eagles fouled out to contribute to the team’s 29 fouls.

“I was really, really happy with Maya Kennedy,” Davis said. “I’ve been getting on her to be aggressive and she was super aggressive tonight. She had five offensive rebounds. Last year, that might have taken her six or seven games.

“I was happy for [Doucette] to get her shot going and [Norman and Goff] were killing it inside. We showed some depth tonight and we made our free throws.”

The Lions open Golden State Athletic Conference play on Tuesday at No. 5-ranked Westmont, then meet No. 9-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene of Kansas and No. 7-ranked Our Lady of the Lakes of Texas on Dec. 18 and 19, respectively, in the Vanguard Classic at The Pit.

“That’s a rough stretch coming up for us,” Davis said.

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Nonconference

Vanguard 110, La Sierra 48

SCORE BY QUARTERS

LS 8 14 8 18 – 48

VU 25 25 35 25 – 110

LS – Brummett 5, Davis 10, Baham, 13 Maeda 3, Hahn 3, Siets 4, Ascencio 3, Laurea 2, Gonzalez 2, Akingba 2, Johnson 1.

3-pt. goals – Baham 2, Hahn 1, Maeda 1, Ascencio 1.

Fouled out – Johnson, Davis, Hahn.

Technicals – None.

VU – Goff 15, Norman 20, Doucette 22, Hartvich 8, Smith 7, Kennedy 13, Martin 9, Lamunu 5, Land 5, Durr 3, Tabron 3.

3-pt. goals – Doucette 2, Hartvich 2, Martin 1, Durr 1, Kennedy 1, Land 1, Tabron 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.