ROCKLIN, Calif. - The Warrior women's basketball team opened the season hosting the Bill Holtz Classic, taking the women's 2016 title winning both contest against Bethesda University (73-58) last night and Simpson University tonight (66-55).

"I am very pleased that tonight we improved from last night," head coach Kurt Westendorp said.  "That is the biggest thing we have talked about as a team, we want to improve as the season goes on and we definitely played better in game two than game one."

Feeding off the momentum in their season opener against the Flames, Jessup came out on fire against the Red Hawks leading just 3 minutes shy of the whole game.

"I am very proud of the energy that we brought," Westendorp said.  "Our bench gave us a ton of energy that I thought we were lacking in the first game. I was very proud we had some bench explosions, that we were really loud and cheering on our teammates. Our big point of emphasis was we wanted to have energy on the bench and the court, and we achieved that."

The Warriors came out the with a spark in the first quarter leading up until just under three minutes when the Red Hawks tied it at 11. But it didn't take long for the Warriors to take it right back with a half-court shot put up by Leilua Losia sending her to the line, going 3-3 and taking the 19-14 advantage after the first quarter of play.
"I was really proud of Le (Leilua Losia) tonight, she gave us a big spark.  It may not have stuffed the stat sheet, but she gave us a big time lift on the court," Westendorp said.  "If she wasn't getting rebounds, she was deflecting rebounds, she was deflecting passes, getting fouled and shooting a halfcourt shot and knocking down her free-throws; I thought she had a great night for us."

The Warriors would extend the lead to as much as 10 points in the second quarter with just over two minutes to play in the half with a three-pointer by Olivia Luu. Luu went 3-3 from beyond the arc with a total 16 points for the night, accompanied by 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.

Simpson came out strong after the break chipping away at the 7 point lead the Warriors gained after the first half, and cutting it to as little as 2 points. But that energy sparked again for Jessup with a three from downtown by Sara Vasquez to extend the lead with no looking back.

Leading the Warriors in all categories was junior Ashlyn Jones with 22 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals. O. Luu (16), Rona Chavez (9) and Vasquez (6) were the following offensive contributors.

"Ashlyn has a knack for putting the ball in the basket," coach Westendorp applauded. "She gets the job done. She is a very talented player and we are going to be expecting big things from her this year."

Jessup went into the final quarter up 52-41 and maintained the double-digit lead to the finish collecting their second win of the season and women's tournament title, 66-55 over Simpson.

"The reason we were successful today was because we executed the things we have been working on the past four, five, six weeks," Westendorp concluded. "Tonight's style of play is much better suited to us then last night, so everything we have been working on we got to see in action tonight." William Jessup University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on William Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: William Jessup University Athletics (Facebook), @WJUSports (Twitter), and @JessupAthletics (Instagram, and Snapchat).