Lions show variety

Besse and Goold lead the offensive charge as Vanguard officially clinches the conference crown on Thursday.COSTA MESA -- Vanguard University’s women’s basketball team won easily again Thursday night. This time, however, the Lions did it in a slightly different way.

Rachel Besse scored a game-high 25 points to lead Vanguard to an 81-62 victory over Fresno Pacific. The victory officially clinched the Golden State Athletic Conference regular season title for the Lions, their fourth in a row.

Besse became the first player other than Jessica Richter and Kelly Schmidt to lead the team in scoring outright in a game this season. Besse and Richter shared top-scorer honors against The Master’s last Saturday, with 12 points apiece.

Point guard Tiari Goold, who was averaging 4.8 points per game, chipped in with 16 points to go with her 11 assists.

With second-place Point Loma Nazarene’s loss at Azusa Pacific, the Lions were assured of finishing first in conference with three games to play.

Facing a Sunbirds team mired in 10th place in conference, Vanguard (23-0, 16-0 in conference) led the entire game. The Lions opened up an 11-point lead just five minutes into the game and were only significantly threatened once the rest of the way. Besse scored 15 points in the opening half.

Fresno Pacific (7-18, 3-13) rallied midway through the second half, cutting the deficit to eight points twice, before the Lions answered with a 16-4 run.

Schmidt added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Lions. Richter finished with eight points, five rebounds and three assists.

Golden State Athletic Conference

Vanguard 81, Fresno Pacific 62

Score by Halves