Westmont Women’s Basketball, ranked second in the NAIA, extended its record to 10-0 overall and 5-0 in Golden State Athletic Conference play with a 64-52 win over #12 Vanguard (6-2, 2-2 GSAC). Senior guard Stefanie Berberabe led the Warriors with 15 points while also tallying eight rebounds, five assists and five steals. Freshman guard Sage Kramer added another 14 points and six rebounds.
Vanguard jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first quarter, but in the final three minutes of the opening frame, Westmont put together a 10-0 run to take a 15-10 advantage into the second period. Aleena Cook (9 points, 4 rebounds) scored on a layup to start the drive and Kramer connected from beyond the arc to make it a 10-10 game.
On the Warriors’ next possession, Kramer drained another triple. Then Sydney Brown (5 rebounds) added two points on a jumper in the paint, making the score 15-10.
Westmont picked up in the second quarter where it left off in the first, scoring the first six points. Destiny Okonkwo (6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) scored on a jumper and Cook made two jumpers on back-to-back possessions to give Westmont a 21-10 advantage. Going into halftime, Westmont led 29-19.
Vanguard rallied in the third quarter outscoring Westmont 20-13 to pull within three. However, the Warriors flipped the script in the final frame, bettering the Lions 22-13. Westmont outscored Vanguard 15-5 in the first six and one-half minutes of the fourth quarter to take a 57-44 advantage. Kramer scored eight points during that stretch and Laila Saenz (10 points, 4 rebounds) nailed a triple,
Westmont made seven of eight free throws down the stretch to clinch the win.
The Warriors outrebounded the Lions 39-25 and Westmont had 16 offensive rebounds to Vanguard’s seven. Both teams committed 17 turnovers, but Westmont had an 11-3 edge in steals, leading to 24 points off turnovers compared to 15 for Vanguard.
With the win, Westmont stays a game ahead of Hope International (10-2, 4-1) and William Jessup (8-5, 4-1) in the GSAC standings. The Warriors will not return to conference play until the first week of January when they make a Northern California trip to take on William Jessup and Menlo (5-6, 2-3).
Before that, the Warriors will resume non-conference action. On Saturday, December 17, Westmont will host Westcliff (7-2) in a rematch of last year’s NAIA National Championship first-round action. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
Then on Thursday and Friday, December 29-30, the Warriors will host the Holiday Classic. On Thursday, Westmont will host the Southeastern (Fla.) Fire (5-5) at noon. Then on Friday, the Warriors will take on the Eutectics of Health Sciences and Pharmacy (Mo.) (7-3) at 5 p.m.