SURPRISE, Ariz. - After a dominant win at ACU on Thursday, the Jessup women's basketball team put up another complete performance beating OUAZ 81-50 Saturday afternoon to conclude the regular season.
The Warriors used some smothering defense in the second quarter as they allowed just six points outscoring the Spirit by 16.
Coach Kurt Westendorp said he was pleased with his team's effort on the defensive end helping them grab the win. "Our communication and attention to detail on defense was key today. We gave great effort and did a good job playing the scouting report."
The Warriors opened the game in a tight battle as OUAZ led 5-2. From there each team traded baskets until the end of the frame as Jessup led 14-12.
In the all-important second quarter, Jessup used a 13-0 run to open the frame thanks to a balanced attack as four different players scored. The momentum swing ultimately ended with Jessup ahead 27-12 with 3:08 left in the half.
From there Aycee Willis created a solo 7-0 run capped off with a three at the 1:03 mark and Jessup took the 36-18 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter continued in Jessup's favor as they went on a 6-0 run extending their advantage to 24. While OUAZ was able to get the lead down to 18 by the 3:46 mark, Jessup regained control with another 6-0 run that included two driving layups by Creonah Bryant and a three from Juliette Caughey and Jessup led 60-34 at the end of three quarters.
The fourth proved to be a formality as the Warriors eventually took home a 29-point victory. Westendorp said he was happy to see his players not overlooking OUAZ coming into the contest and that their focus on the task at hand proved to help them play well.
"We did a great job of staying focused to finish out the regular season. It can be easy to look ahead to post-season starting next week, but we stayed in the moment and played very well."
The Jessup attack was led by Miranda Zaragoza who scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for her 19th double-double of the year. Willis followed with 17 points and seven rebounds and JoeLyn Stirton rounded out the double-figure scorers with 13.
Jessup will return to the court Thursday in the GSAC tournament that runs from March 5-7.
Westendorp concluded by saying, "I think we're in a good spot heading into post-season play. We've been playing some really good basketball the past couple of weeks.We have some individual players starting to hit their strides as well at just the right time and we'll need everyone on top of their game to bring home a GSAC championship."
***
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, and Snapchat).
