Posted: Jan 19, 2024
By Francisco Claudio
The Westcliff women's basketball team journeyed north to play a few away games in Norcal this week.
On Thursday they played UC Merced, a desperate team looking for a win, after losing six games in a row.
The Warriors definitely felt that intensity from their opponent as they fell early on in the first period and were never able to get over the hump in an eventual loss, 74-60.
Westcliff took the lead early on after a three from Jalen Long to go up 3-2. Two possessions later Valisa Millhouse made her second free throw to put the Warriors up 7-5, but it would be the last time that they had a lead for the remainder of the game.
UC Merced went on a 7-2 run to end the first half as they increased their lead to double-digits.
The Warriors were able to chip away at the deficit in the second quarter and brought it down to single-digit multiple times, but the Bobcats responded every time with a min run of their own.
In the third and fourth quarters, the Warriors saw their deficit increase as their record fell to (7-7, Cal Pac 5-4). They are still sitting in the fifth spot of the conference standings as the season reaches its half-point mark.
Jalen Long played well for the Warriors as she recorded 16 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Long shot over 50% from the field and was perfect from beyond the arc, converting on all four of her attempts.
This season Long is averaging 9.2ppg and shooting 35.1% from three.
Eva Taylor also scored in double figures with 14 as she went 3-4 from the free throw line. Taylor is averaging 11.8ppg this season and shooting 33.3% from long range.
Off the bench, Janelle Ramos was able to contribute with 11 points and eight rebounds while shooting 55% from the field.
Westcliff will continue their road trip as they play Simpson University on Saturday with a start time of 5:30 PM.
