Women’s basketball: Vanguard beats Crusaders

Amara Aguilar

COSTA MESA - After a slow start, the Vanguard University women’s

basketball team picked up the pace and overwhelmed Point Loma Nazarene in

a Golden State Athletic Conference game at the Pit Tuesday.

The Crusaders went on a 10-2 run to open the game, but that’s when the

Lions turned things around. Vanguard (9-5, 6-2) rallied to earn a 68-59

victory to steal the top spot in the GSAC away from Point Loma (7-6,

5-2).

“We got down 10-2 and we never quit,” Vanguard Coach Russ Davis said.

“We didn’t hang our heads. We talked about not showing any adversity in

our faces and not showing any weakness and I’m real proud of our girls

for not getting down.”

The Lions took their first lead on a layup by Beth Weidler that put

Vanguard ahead, 12-11, with 13:09 to go until the break.

Vanguard took its biggest lead of the first half on a three-pointer by

Erin Edmiston that gave the Lions a 38-25 advantage. Edmiston made

several key three-pointers and finished with a team-leading 20 points.

“I told her that she needs to be aggressive because when she’s

aggressive she’s tough,” Davis said. “She came out aggressive and that’s

what I’ve been waiting for. I think this is going to be a good game for

her to break out and she’s been doing a lot of good things.”

At the break, the Lions led, 38-28, but Point Loma came on strong to

start the second half.

The Crusaders went on a 15-5 run to tie the score at 43 with 12:55

left in the game.

“When we started the second half, we probably made only two of our

first 15 shots,” Davis said. “We were getting good shots and I knew it

was going to come around.”

Weidler hit a two-pointer to take back the lead for the Lions. They

stayed ahead by at least two points until Point Loma tied the score,

54-54, on a layup by Erin Kellar with 6:13 left to play.

Kellar made several crucial shots for the Crusaders. Although she was

held to seven points in the first half, she finished with a team-leading

19.

“We talked about the double team from the weak side and making

(Kellar) pass out,” Edmiston said. “For the most part in the first half

we were doing that. In the second half she was starting to get on a roll

and getting some key shots, but luckily it didn’t get going too much and

we were able to stop her.”

With the score tied, 54-54, Edmiston scored on a jumper and then hit a

free throw to put Vanguard ahead, 57-54, with 5:10 left.

Robbin Dittenbir added a layup to give Vanguard some momentum, but

Kellar answered with a two-pointer to keep the Crusaders close, 59-56,

with 3:47 remaining.

Vanguard took over from there, going on a 9-3 run to close out the

victory.

“I feel like everybody had something they contributed to giving us

momentum,” Edmiston said. “So I think it was a really good team effort

and a really big win. We were all really pumped up and our hard work paid

off.”

Weidler contributed with 16 points, followed by Kelly Boeke (11

points, nine rebounds) and Dittenbir (eight points).

“It feels good to be in first right now,” Edmiston said. “Whatever

team we come across we need to bring our effort and our hard work every

single time. It feels good to be on top right now because our hard work

is paying off.”