Vanguard pulls away

Richter and Schmidt lead second half charge as the Lions’ women, ranked No. 1 in NAIA, move to 10-0 this season.COSTA MESA -- The Concordia University women’s basketball team found out that you can contain Vanguard University’s high-scoring duo of Jessica Richter and Kelly Schmidt for a little while, but it’s not going to last forever.

The Lions made 10 of 11 free throws and played a strong inside game to hold on to a small lead in the first half, then Richter and Schmidt took over in the second half en route to a 73-55 victory in Golden State Athletic Conference action on Tuesday night.

Concordia (7-5, 2-1) pulled to within 40-37 with 15:40 left in regulation when Mallory Ellis’ steal led to a layup by Liz Torres.

Vanguard, playing without Coach Russ Davis -- who was home sick, called a timeout. The Lions broke free from the huddle after a chat with assistant coaches Lisa Faulkner and John Barney, and went on a 19-5 run.

Richter started the burst by making a layup after driving to the basket. Schmidt followed suit, but was fouled and sunk both of her free throws. After a baseline drive for a bucket and a 6-foot runner in the paint by Richter, Andrea Jacobson converted a three-point play. Schmidt concluded the run by making two free throws to give the Lions a 59-42 lead.

“Once we started getting up, we never let down,” Schmidt said. “We forgot about the stupid things we did and just played our game.”

Vanguard kept it from being a close game by being better from the free throw line. The Lions were 20 of 24 from the line (83.3 %). Concordia was 9 of 19 (47.4 %).

“That was huge,” Faulkner said. “We’ve struggled with that this year, but we’ve stressed it all year, so I’m glad to see it’s paid off.”

Vanguard’s prowess on the boards also paid off. The Lions outrebounded the Eagles, 43-28. Schmidt led the Lions with 12 rebounds to go with her game-high 22 points, and center Rachel Besse added 12 points and nine rebounds.

Two three-pointers by Liz Torres and one by Joial Griffith helped Concordia stay close in the first half. The Eagles even had a 16-12 lead after Kristine Jensen’s layup with 10:20 left in the first half.

But Vanguard turned up the defensive intensity a notch and created four consecutive turnovers. Richter’s put-back tied the score, 16-16, and Melissa Cook’s three-pointer -- one of the Lions’ three for the night out of 15 attempts -- gave the Lions a 21-16 lead.

“We didn’t play our best game,” Faulkner said. “But we did what we needed to do. We usually get a lot of fast break opportunities -- we didn’t tonight. But we did a good job with our half-court offense.”

Guard Tiari Goold had a game-high nine assists and five steals for the Lions.

Vanguard, ranked No. 1 in the nation in NAIA’s Division I, moved to 10-0 overall and 3-0 in conference.

“We know teams are going to be gunning for us every night,” Schmidt said. “So this is great. It’s what we wanted to do and we hope to keep it going.”

Vanguard faces The Master’s College, ranked No. 7 in NAIA, Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

Golden State Athletic Conference

Vanguard 73, Concordia 55

Score by Halves