Get Ready to Dance: Warriors Punch Their Ticket

by BRANDON PETERSEN

There's nothing quite like the college basketball postseason, and the Warriors are going dancing.

The Westcliff women's basketball team has been at or near the top of the California Pacific Conference standings all season, and on Monday night, the Warriors (10-2) captured the final remaining automatic bid for the Cal Pac postseason by winning the Southern Division outright with a 78-43 drubbing of Saint Katherine.

Westcliff finished half of a game ahead of La Sierra (10-3) in the division.

Afterwards, the Warriors had a little postgame party in the locker room.

"We had to (celebrate)," Westcliff head coach Kyle Rouse said. "Shoot, first year in the Cal Pac, clinching our division, especially with everything we've gone through -- the tough non-conference -- but they bought into the process.

"We knew this was possible. We weren't sure when we were going through those trenches, but I had a feeling it would work, because they bought in. It was all them."

Laura Tapia almost single-handedly carried the Warriors to victory on Senior night. She scored a game and season-high 22 points, grabbed seven boards, handed out six assists and collected five steals.

"We could talk about Laura all day," Rouse said. "I just loved that we came to play. We talked about whether we wanted to control our destiny or leave it up to faith."

Question answered.

Rouse said that as far as he is concerned, Tapia is the Cal Pac Defensive Player of the Year.

But she might get a little competition for the title from her own teammate, Bailey Hawkins, who destroyed Saint Katherine's post offense, racking up five blocks, five offensive boards and 13 total, to complement her 14 points.

"The two seniors that came out tonight finished it well, Bailey and Lo," Rouse said. "We let them come in and finish it -- Bailey wanted a three, it's been a running joke all season."

The Big Three came through again, as Trinity Vasquez matched Hawkins' 14 with 14 of her own. Vasquez, who should garner plenty of votes for league MVP, also had seven dimes and snagged a pair of cookies.

Everyone came to play Monday night.

Asia Anderson had 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and grabbed four rebounds, while Sara Weber splashed a pair of triples and finished with seven.

Neyha Lali, Westcliff's defensive specialist, got in the act as well, dropping a bomb three with her trademark high-arching shot.

Remy Hare provided quality minutes once again off the bench, scoring eight, but more importantly, grabbing six rebounds and playing solid defense, collecting a steal and locking down, creating bad shots for the Firebirds.

"We're going to have to have some of our role players step up and hit some shots, and it was really good to see that tonight," Rouse said. "Remy coming up big, Asia scored 10, which may have been her season-high, but that was huge, we needed that.

"And I know we talk about this often, but defense. You can't teach the heart and tenacity it takes to play good defense."

The Warriors are likely to be seeded second in the Cal Pac playoff brackets, but that is not guaranteed. An automatic bid does not give each division winner a Top-3 seed.

However, Westcliff finished the Cal Pac season with the second-best record, and played UC Merced (10-0) straight up until the Bobcats hit a last-second shot in overtime to claim the win.

If the Warriors capture a Top-2 seeding, they will start the playoffs Monday.

If they are seeded three through six, they will begin Sunday.

The Cal Pac Women's Basketball Tournament will be held at Cal Maritime in Vallejo.

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