By Francisco Claudio

 

The Westcliff women's basketball team officially kicked off their season on Thursday, November 2nd, against Jessup University.

 

The Warriors traveled up north to participate in a two-day tournament where they would face off against Jessup and Menlo College.

 

Westcliff struggled shooting the ball against Jessup and even though they had a strong fourth quarter, ultimately lost by eight points, 67-59.

 

The Warriors fell behind early on in the first quarter after missing consecutive shots.

 

The score was 8-0 before Janelle Ramos hit a three to put them on the board.

 

At the end of the first quarter, Westcliff had caught up and was only two points behind. The score was 20-18 in favor of Jessup.

 

Warriors started the second quarter a step behind as Jessup scored six points in a row.

 

Westcliff was getting shots up but they weren't falling as the Warriors shot 36.8% in the second quarter compared to 75% from their opponent.

 

The Warriors finished the first half down 40-33.

 

The third quarter continued a similar pattern for them even though they shot a little better from the field, Westcliff struggled from three-point range going 1-7 in the third.

 

Then in the fourth quarter, the Warriors were able to find a better rhythm while also disrupting Jessup's. The Warriors were able to win the fourth quarter 15-8.

 

"Overall Jessup did a great job shooting a high percentage, even on contested shots," said head coach Kyle Rouse. "They shot close to 50% as a team from the field for the game but I don't believe that's an indicator of our defense. A lot of the shots were very well defended and they just did a good job converting when necessary. 

 

"Our defense even turned them over 22 times for the game, we just couldn't convert enough on some of those opportunities."

 

Janelle Ramos had a very productive and efficient game scoring 18 points, with eight rebounds, two steals, and a block. She led the game in scoring for both teams.

 

Ramos was one of the few Warriors who didn't struggle shooting the ball, converting on 7-11 shots.

 

Valisa Millhouse scored 11 points and collected five rebounds.

 

Morgan Higgins helped with 13 points, four steals, and four assists. 

 

"Senior Janelle Ramos had an awesome start to her season with an 18 and eight performance," Rouse said. "Our shooting overall was just a little too inconsistent to give us a chance to win the game, however, we are really impressed that the group never stopped trying to finish that game down to the last seconds, going on a 5-0 run late and holding Jessup to zero field goals much of the 4th quarter, only totaling eight points as a team in the fourth quarter to our 15.

"Overall, these were the games we wanted to start our season with. We could have scheduled light and started with a couple of wins but we want to make sure we continue to challenge ourselves immensely to be sure we are getting better each time we take the court."

 

The Warriors will play Menlo College on Friday to conclude the Jessup tournament.