Women’s Basketball: No. 1 Vanguard Lions falter at Westmont

SANTA BARBARA — The Vanguard University women’s basketball team had only a couple hours to enjoy its No. 1 NAIA ranking Tuesday.

But the essence of the Lions’ 60-47 Golden State Athletic Conference-opening loss at No. 2-ranked Westmont Tuesday evening unfolded in just more than eight minutes in the second period.

The Warriors (9-1, 1-0 in conference), finished the first half on a 20-1 run to turn a 17-15 deficit with 8:10 left, into a 35-18 halftime advantage that never slipped to less than 10.

Vanguard (4-1, 0-1) missed its final 11 field-goal tries of the first half and was one for nine from three-point range in the second half as Westmont’s swarming defensive pressure sent the visitors into offensive disarray.

“It was a disaster in the second quarter and a disaster [for us] trying to run our offense [the last three quarters],” Vanguard Coach Russ Davis said. “We didn’t have any poise and we started throwing up bad shots, when our shots didn’t fall. We lost our composure and we got rattled.”

Despite missing 20 first-half field-goal attempts, Vanguard, which played the Warriors even in the first quarter, had only two offensive rebounds in the first two quarters. The lack of production on the offensive glass, Davis said, illustrated the Lions’ lack of aggressiveness.

“It was frustrating for me to have to yell at them at halftime [about offensive rebounding],” Davis said. “In the second half, we had 15 offensive rebounds, because they decided to go get them. But hats off to Westmont. Their team played with [purpose]. They played to win and we played not to lose. And when you play not to lose, you lose.

“You can’t do that against a good team on their home court,” Davis said. “We’re lucky [the final margin] was 13 points. It should have been worse.”

Vanguard finished 16 for 59 from the field (27.1%) and was four for 18 from three-point range (22.2%).

Westmont shot nearly 46% from the field and nearly 43% from threedom (including four for seven in the first half). The Warriors had a 37-36 rebounding advantage and their 14 turnovers were one fewer than the Lions.

Melissa Norman, a 6-foot-2 senior center, had 14 of her team-high 15 points and 10 of her 12 rebounds after halftime, as Vanguard managed just one field goal from outside eight feet in the final 28 minutes.

Senior forward Samantha Doucette was four for 14 from the field to finish with nine points, almost half her average coming in (17.5).

Norman was four for 12 from the field and sophomore guard Kandyce Smith, a UNLV transfer who is dealing with nagging injuries, was two for nine from the field and had a team-worst five turnovers. Smith did have four of Vanguard’s seven steals.

Vanguard struggled against full-court pressure and it struggled in its half-court offense, particularly on the perimeter, where the Warriors stymied dribble penetration and passes to the interior, and prompted five Lions’ air balls from three-point range.

Twelve Vanguard shots failed to draw iron and the Lions had just four assists on their 12 field goals.

Vanguard’s 47 points were its fewest since a 43-38 win over Biola in January of 2012, a span of 105 games.

Westmont used unselfishness and ball movement to collect 14 assists on its 22 field goals, with three players posting at least as many assists as Vanguard’s team total.

Senior Krissy Karr led the winners with 16 points, making five of her six field-goal tries, including three of four from threedom. The 5-6 guard had four assists, four rebounds, two steals and one block.

Junior guard Cora Chan had 13 points and five assists, while sophomore forward Lauren McCoy had eight points and a team-best 11 rebounds for the hosts.

Davis said Smith who is normally relied upon to handle the ball against pressure, and 6-1 junior Claire Lamunu (scoreless on zero-for-three shooting with one rebound while being limited to five minutes by a gimpy knee that created a noticeable limp) are severely hampered by injuries.

“We’re searching for leadership on the floor, there’s no question,” Davis said. “We’ll be all right. We’ve been banged up with injuries and we couldn’t execute stuff, because we’ve had people missing practice. We need to get Claire and Kandyce 100%. They were both about 50% tonight and that’s not good.”

The Lions will have 10 days to lick their wounds, before playing host to MidAmerica Nazarene of Kansas and Our Lady of the Lake (Texas), both tied for the No. 10 national ranking, on Dec. 18 and 19, respectively, in the Vanguard Classic.

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Golden State Athletic Conference

Westmont 60, Vanguard 47

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Vanguard 11 7 17 12 -- 47

Westmont 11 24 13 12 – 60

VU – Doucette 9, Goff 0, Norman 15, Martin 8, Hartvich 3, Smith 6, Tabron 6.

3-pt. goals – Matin 2, Doucette 1, Tabron 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

WMT – McCoy 8, Shellmire 13, Karr 16, Chan 13, Sato 1, Sende 6, Brakken 3.

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

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.