Dubs’ Defense Locks Down Comeback Win

By Brandon Petersen

Sometimes in basketball, it's easy to beat yourself.

The hard part is overcoming the obstacles you lay before yourself.

The Warriors did both Saturday at Golden West, where Westcliff made it a season sweep of scrappy Life Pacific, which came to play, but ultimately fell, 50-45.

Westcliff shot 7-of-29 from the field in the first half, missing open look after open look, as if they'd bitten off the wrong end of the karma stick, and the universe was playing games with them.

"Really slow start in the first half, it was a like there was a lid on the rim," Westcliff head coach Andre Wallace said. "We got good shots, and executed at a high rate, and that is one of the telling factors of this team – when we execute at a high level, we are really hard to guard.

"We got paint touches, and we missed 14 layups that I counted in the first half. That's close to 30 points on the board. Obviously, when you're going through a game like that, you want to encourage the young ladies and let them know they are doing the right things.

"But when you dig yourself an 11-point hole going into halftime, you're going to eventually lose possessions, and not have enough to get back into the game. So, we really put a high emphasis on the defensive end."

The problem with being down large in basketball is that the comeback usually gasses you so much, you run out of energy before momentum fully shifts and the team with the former big lead need only lean on you until you fold.

The Warriors were headed in that direction in the third quarter, as it became obvious the only way they would erase the double-digit deficit was to put in overtime on the defensive end.

They did just that, but the result was as previously discussed – the starters got winded, and the bench had to play a huge role.

Midway through the third, Wallace took out his star shooting guard Hayley Berfield, resting her for the home stretch.

Berfield was replaced by Natalie Satamian, who defected from Life Pacific to Westcliff in the offseason.

With Berfield on the bench, Satamian went to work. She collected three boards, handed out an assist, snagged a steal and hit four clutch free throws.

More importantly, when Berfield returned with six minutes left in the contest, Westcliff was within four.

During Satamian's stretch, which was highlighted by a clutch three-pointer from Valeria Brewer, the Dubs played relentless defense, swarming Life Pacific on every possession.

In the third quarter, Life Pacific went 1-of-5 from three. In the fourth, they dropped off the map with an 0-for-6 mark.

Satamian scored four points Saturday, 15 less than Berfield, and unless you were in the building, you wouldn't have thought much of her line.

But it turns out, in the game of basketball, you don't have to score to make the difference.  

"No. 1, Natalie is really, really good at understanding what we need at both ends," Wallace said. "She was struggling the last couple of games, and tonight we told her, 'Look, you're a senior, you're someone who needs to mature in certain areas detail-wise and carry that out onto the floor.'"

Wallace says that he talked to the coaching staff about Satamian's mindset Saturday heading into a contest against her alma mater.

All agreed it was her time to step up.

"You need senior leadership like her," Wallace said. "She's someone who, even when she's not in the game – she's in the game mentally. She's very, very encouraging to the rest of her teammates, and she deserved her shot tonight. She absolutely capitalized and took advantage of it tonight. She played a pivotal role – steals, containing the basketball, rebounding the basketball, getting to the line, hitting free throws, and allowing us to set up our defense and keep them off the court, which was huge for us tonight."

Satamian wasn't the only under heralded star on the court for the Dubs either.

Check out this line from point guard Jayla Reliford, all five-feet, two-inches of her: 14 rebounds (five ORBs), seven assists, two steals and just three turnovers.

Reliford also hit a clutch floater in the fourth with the shot clock expiring.

"When you start looking at the second-half categories – we won the rebounding battle, we won the assist-to-score battle, we won the three-point battle, we won the free throw battle," Wallace said. "And we shot close to 60-percent from the field. That was the difference in the game.

"(Life Pacific) is a very well-coached team, a very resilient team. We came out flat tonight. When you're trying to become a champion, you have to find a way – internally and externally – to prepare yourself, mind and body, to bring both to the table.

"We were able to do that in the second half. Kudos to our team. They're a tough, resilient group and I'm proud of them, but we have to clean up some areas, and we'll do so."

The Dubs (5-2) will lace them up again Tuesday at Cal Tech.

Tip is scheduled for 1 pm.