ROCKLIN, Calif. - After a resounding win on Thursday night over San Diego Christian, the Jessup women's basketball team hosted senior day against No. 6 Vanguard Saturday afternoon. While the team played a competitive final three quarters, Jessup eventually fell 70-57 in the Warriors' final home game of 2020.
The Warriors hung tough with the Lions all night but a slow start proved to be the difference as Jessup fell behind by double figures in the opening frame and trailed the rest of the contest.
Coach Kurt Westendorp said that while his team played well at times, they struggled to make a big run to get back into it. "Vanguard is a very difficult team to defend and we threw a lot of looks at them today. We did a nice job mounting some short runs in the second half but Vanguard had an answer for every one of them."
To open the game, the Warriors took an early lead before Vanguard went on an 11-4 run grabbing a 13-8 advantage with 4:21 left in the first quarter. Later in the frame, Miranda Zaragoza scored on a lay-in cutting the Lions lead to three but the road team answered with a 7-2 run giving them a 24-16 lead at the end of one.
In the second frame, Vanguard grabbed it's first double-digit lead of the day then extended the lead to 14 forcing a Jessup time out with 8:30 left in the half. From there the Warriors were able to cut the lead to single digits on two occasions but found themselves trailing by 10 at halftime 41-31.
In the third quarter, Vanguard started the frame well scoring on back-to-back possessions. The Warriors continued to fight throughout the frame cutting the lead to eight on three more occasions but never got any closer as they trailed by 10 heading into the final quarter.
The final frame was similar to most of the game as Jessup cut Vanguard's lead to 53-46 with 8:48 left and brought down to eight at the 5:27 mark and the 3:50 mark, but Jessup wasn't able to get any closer as they eventually fell by 13.
The Warriors offense was led by Zaragoza who had 20 points and 13 rebounds, while seniors Creonah Bryant and Liz Gehweiler added 12 apiece.
Westendorp reflected on the loss saying "We know this was a big missed opportunity, but we are still in position for post-season play. We have to keep improving and peaking to finish strong in the GSAC to earn a bid to nationals."
The Warriors will play their final games of the regular season in Arizona starting this Thursday at 4:30 p.m. against Arizona Christian. The Warriors will head to Southern California the following week for the GSAC Tournament.
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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) and @JessupAthletics (Twitter & Instagram).
