February 18, 2023

Pack Your Things Because the Warriors are Into the Playoffs!

Video Box Score
By Francisco Claudio
 

Ladies and gentlemen, we have another team that has qualified and will make an appearance in the Cal Pac Tournament this year.

On Friday the Westcliff women's basketball team got the win they needed over Park University Gilbert, 71-63, and will officially attend and be a part of the playoffs.
 
It wasn't easy but nothing ever is, as the Warriors had to battle a strong performance from Park-Gilbert throughout the entire game.
 
With the win, the Warriors are in as the current fourth seed with one game left of their season.
 
Westcliff was met with a lot of resistance and through two quarters was down by a single possession 37-35.
 
But whatever was discussed in the locker room definitely had an impact on the team as they came out with a different energy to start the third quarter.
 
Head Coach Kyle Rouse shared his thoughts on the adversity the team had to overcome: "One of the mottos is you're never out of the fight. We've proven that all year, we've been in some interesting situations being down late, and we always just said we're never out of the fight, we're too talented."
 
The Warriors responded well in the third and outscored Park-Gilbert 21-11.
 
That changed the momentum of the game as Westcliff started the fourth quarter up 58-46.
 
It wasn't a walk in the park as Park-Gibert still put up some resistance towards the late stages of the fourth quarter, but the Warriors knew that this was their game to win.
 
It really was a team win, because everyone who stepped on the floor for the Warriors made an impact.
 
Janelle Ramos had one of her best games of the season with 13 points, nine rebounds, two steals, and a block.
 
Eva Taylor added 13 points, three rebounds, and three steals.
 
Katie Nguyen was huge on the boards with 15 rebounds, four assists, and a steal.
 
The list goes on because everyone was making winning plays.
 
"We added a few new things this week but we won because they all came together and figured if we can be gritty and do this today we'll get one game," said Rouse.
 
The Warriors were also helped out by the amazing energy that the men's basketball team brought as they cheered on.
 
"The MBB cheering was 100% the sixth man," said Rouse. The gym felt like a home game. Super loud."
 
"You can tell when we were going on a run, the guys could feel it, the team could feel it and gave us more juice. Having them do that was huge and the support from the cheer team was huge."
 
The Warriors have one game left to play before they change their focus to the playoffs.
 
Rouse feels that the team is in a good spot leading into the playoffs after a long season.
 
"This group right now the way the vibe is, complacency isn't an issue," said Rouse. They understand the things they can do when they're together, there's not much for me to say."
 
"We've proven that we can hang and beat anyone in the conference tournament, so at this point I just want them to play like that. Our mindset right now is solid."
 
The final game for the Warriors will take place on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 5:30 PM.