WU Show Grit Against USK, Win Third Straight

WU Show Grit Against USK, Win Third Straight
December 7, 2023
By Francisco Claudio
 
One team would remain undefeated while the other would get their first loss in conference play as the Westcliff women's basketball team hosted the University of Saint Katherine Firebirds Tuesday evening.
 
The Warriors played well for three quarters but had to grind out the fourth as they defeated the Firebirds 59-54, moving to 3-0 in the Cal Pac Conference.
 
The Warriors were in control for the first two quarters and went into the half-time break up 33-24 while shooting 43% from the field.
 
Valisa Millhouse led the way with nine points and was perfect from the free throw line, 3-3.
 
Kayleen Vasquez scored six points in the first quarter and Katie Nguyen followed that with six of her own in the second quarter.
 
But the Firebirds responded with a big third quarter in which they outscored Westcliff 21-7 and took the lead 45-40 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Millhouse scored the first basket of the fourth quarter and went on an early 8-0 run to regain the lead, 48-45.
 
The teams went back and forth with very little separation until Millhouse hit a huge three at the one-minute mark.
 
USK was unable to score during the last minute as the Warriors will remain atop of the Cal Pac Conference with their 3-0 start.
 
"The game was a tale of three quarters," said head coach Kyle Rouse. "We've been having that issue lately of playing really solid for 3 to 3.5 quarters and we have to be sure we can't have those 'lulls'. 
 
"USK did a great job taking advantage of that in the third quarter."
 
Rouse was happy with the way the team fought in the fourth quarter and how they figured out how to win it in the end.
 
"Ultimately though it was our grit in the fourth quarter that got us the eventual win," Rouse said. "The moment when we were down five and quickly got three stops and a 6-0 run to take the lead, I knew we could finish it out.
 
"Our goal is to always hold our opponents under 60 and if we do that consistently we'll always have a shot at winning. Our defense in the 4th quarter turned up and set the tone for us to finish the deal. Held them to only nine total points in that quarter."
 
Millhouse led the way again for the Warriors with 16 points, five rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
 
Vasquez had a strong game with 10 points and six rebounds while shooting 50% from the field.
 
Nguyen came off the bench and scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds. She made her only three-point attempt and went 3-5 from the field. 
 
"Led by a great 38-minute performance from Valisa Millhouse who just never quits, the team just follows her lead," Rouse said. "We also had some big shots by Katie Nguyen and Akilah Kubi helped solidify it as well.
 
"We need to clean up our ball control and turnovers moving forward and playing UAV this Saturday we know we can't have those 'lulls' and have to take better care of the ball.
 
Up next the Warriors will travel to UAV and will play them on Saturday for another conference match-up.
 
"Looking forward to the next one, but we're just taking one game at a time and trying to reach our potential," Rouse said.