Winded Warriors Drop One to Slugs

by BRANDON PETERSEN

Coming off an electric Saturday night at Jordan Lawley Center where the Westcliff women's basketball team erased a 17-point second-half deficit to beat Antelope Valley, there was very little gas left in the tank Sunday.

The Warriors legs just didn't have the lift and a lot of routine shots didn't fall in a 63-54 loss to a well-coached and disciplined UC Santa Cruz crew.

"We definitely were tired," Westcliff head coach Kyle Rouse said. "You could see it in our body language. I would say that the majority of our shots came up short."

Westcliff shot just 27.5% from the field and no one was immune to a poor shooting night.

Trinity Vasquez (team-high 15 points) shot just 5-of-17, while Bailey Hawkins (12 points) shot 6-of-16 and Laura Tapia (eight points) shot 3-of-13.

If there was one bright spot shooting-wise it was Sara Weber (12 points), who drained four triples including back-to-back splashes in the second half.

"To be honest, part of it was being tired, but I think I could have made some different adjustments to try and help with our exhaustion as well," Rouse said. "We definitely were still on a high from last night."

Neyha Lali got the start at the two and gave the Warriors quality minutes, finishing with three points, two assists and steal and rebound.

Asia Anderson and Remy Hare came off the bench to provide a bucket each.

"As whole, we just need to do a better job refocusing and controlling what we can control," Rouse said. "That goes for me as a coach as well."

Up next, the Warriors (8-8, 5-0 Cal Pac) make it an Arizona three-step with back-to-back-to-back contests next weekend at Park-Gilbert, Benedictine Mesa and Embry-Riddle.

To contact Brandon Petersen, e-mail brandonpetersen@westcliff.edu.