Late Game Run Gives Warriors the Win

Westcliff women's basketball team was looking to continue their solid season as they visited Saint Katherine last Saturday. 

This was the Warriors' first game of the new year and was coming off winning a very close game against the La Sierra Golden Eagles.

Saturday's game was another nail-biter but the Warriors were able to get over the hump by a narrow margin to get the win, 71-70.

The first quarter was low in scoring but they were able to hold Saint Katherine to single digits to finish it leading 14-8.

This has been a common pattern in the last couple of games where the Warriors have been able to jump off too early leads because they have held the opponent to slow starts.

Turnovers and missed shots in the second quarter brought the game closer as Westcliff went into half-time with a two-point lead, 29-27.

The Firebirds applied more pressure to start the third quarter which eventually became a back-and-forth from each team trading baskets.

After tying it up 44 a piece with two minutes in the third, the Warriors had a couple of bad possessions that resulted in a mini-run by Saint Katherine.

Westcliff finished the third down 49-47.

As the fourth quarter went on the Warriors found themselves down double-digits with four minutes left.

But this Warriors team doesn't give up, and we shouldn't be surprised by those facts.

Everybody stepped up and made winning plays which led to a 14-3 run in the last three minutes.

Westcliff's assistant coach Mary Dishoian shared her thoughts on the late game run: "We knew we didn't have much time left to make something happen, so we changed the gameplan a bit to go into our zone press to create some havoc."

"The girls fed off of each other's energy and fought during that stretch which gave us the momentum we needed to close out that game."

With that late-game run, the Warriors finished the job to get their second consecutive win and keep them in second place in the Cal Pac Conference.

Trinity Vasquez scored a game-high 22 points while shooting 45% from the field. She had 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal.

Eva Taylor was huge in the win and finished with 21 points, 3 assists, 4 steals, and a block.

"Our team as a whole, coaching staff, and the players included, all believe we could have played a better overall game," said Dishoian. However, one thing that we are all very proud and prideful of is the fact that the girls never quit."

"We never folded, we never gave up, and that was very apparent."

Up next for the Warriors they will play at Park-Gilbert on Thursday, January 12th, with tip-off at 4:30 PM.