Posted: Feb 28, 2023
By Francisco Claudio
The Westcliff women's basketball team knew that the task ahead would be the biggest challenge of their season.
They were set to play against the #1 team in the conference Antelope Valley on Monday afternoon.
But after 40 minutes of blood, sweat, and tears, the Warriors' season concludes as they were bested 63-50.
It was never going to be an easy hurdle to climb over, but one thing is for certain, Westcliff played until the very last second and can be proud that they left it all on the floor.
The Warriors came out with some good rhythm, especially from Eva Taylor who knocked down a couple of early threes that had the bench going crazy.
This sequence put the Warriors up early with a 7-3 lead.
But turnovers started to pile up early for Westcliff and would become a negative pattern for them throughout the game.
At the end of the first quarter, the Warriors were still feeling good about themselves as they had a one-point lead.
Westcliff started the second quarter by making the first basket and tried to extend their lead after a couple of free throws, but some careless turnovers allowed Antelope Valley to stay close.
After being up for most of the second quarter, the Warriors' lead began to shrink as the Pioneers went on a run of their own.
As the second quarter came to an end, the Warriors were now down 31-27.
In the first half, Westcliff had already accumulated 10 turnovers compared to five from Antelope Valley.
The Warriors weren't able to buy baskets in the third as they saw their deficit increase to 11 points with one quarter left to be played.
Westcliff tried their best but any attempt at making a run was countered by Antelope Valley scoring.
And so the final whistle was blown as the Warriors' season would come to an end against the top team in the conference.
Even though this is where their season stops, the Warriors will be able to take everything they've learned and add it as fuel as they keep building.
As a team, Westcliff struggled to shoot the ball at 31.5% from the field and 26.7% from the three.
Trinity Vasquez was still able to be productive even though her shot wasn't falling. Vasquez scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for a double-double.
Taylor had 14 points, six rebounds, and two steals with four baskets from beyond the arc.
It's been an amazing season for the Warriors, and they can be proud of a successful season that led them to the semifinals of the playoffs.
