No. 22 Westmont poured it on in the second half, outscoring Biola, 47-23, en route to a 75-56 victory Tuesday in La Mirada. Point guard Amber Stevens, a sophomore from Dos Pueblos High, led the Warriors with 18 points. She also contributed seven assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Around the halfway mark of the first half, the Warriors’ Brittney Crawford and Stevens connected on a jumper and a layup to put Westmont (18-6, 10-6) out in front, 19-12. But over the next nine minutes, Biola (7-19, 4-12) took control of the court and produced a 21-4 run. Elise Paty (18 points) recorded three from beyond the arc during the spurt, giving the Eagles a 33-23 advantage with 48 seconds remaining in the half. Westmont rallied to narrow the deficit to five before the buzzer, 33-23, on two free throws by Stevens and a three-point bucket by sophomore guard Jessica Case (10 points, two rebounds, two steals).
The start of the second half saw the Warriors regain the lead, 34-33, by scoring the first six points on two baskets by Stevens and one by Case. The lead switched hands several times over the next eight minutes as the score remained close.
Down 51-48 with 10:20 remaining on the clock, Westmont simply took over the game. The Warriors outscored the Eagles, 27-5, over the final 10 minutes. A jumper by freshman Angel Blanco started the rally, followed by a basket by senior Stephanie Anderson (10 points, six rebounds, five steals), a bucket by junior Ali Mooty (12 points, five rebounds, four steals) and a three-pointer by junior Annie Johnson. Stevens would add a layup, Anderson a jumper and Mooty two free throws before Biola would score again on a three-point shot by Paty.
Up 63-54 with 4:10 to play in regulation, Westmont closed out the game with a 12-2 run, with six of those points coming from sophomore Alisha Heglund (13 points, five rebounds, two assists).
In other Golden State Athletic Conference action Tuesday, No. 3 Point Loma Nazarene (21-2, 15-1) defeated Concordia (10-16, 4-12), 60-54, and No. 4 Vanguard (19-3, 15-1) beat San Diego Christian (9-17, 3-13), 75-64. Point Loma and Vanguard remain deadlocked at the top of the GSAC standings. Two games behind the leaders is No. 9 Azusa Pacific (21-5, 13-3), which defeated Fresno Pacific (8-19, 1-16), 86-54 count. Westmont is in fourth place, a half-game ahead of No. 12 The Master’s (17-7, 9-6), which was idle. No. 25 California Baptist (14-9, 8-8), in sixth place, snuck by Hope International (15-13, 6-10), 88-85. Cal Baptist plays at The Master’s on Thursday.
Westmont will host Point Loma Nazarene at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Murchison Gymnasium.
Ron Smith is Westmont College‘s sports information director.