Vanguard ready for tough road

COSTA MESA — Vanguard University’s Jessica Richter is an NAIA MVP candidate in women’s basketball, and she showed why early in the second half Tuesday night at The Pit.

She couldn’t be stopped on offense or defense, with her steals, driving layups and three-pointers from the corner. Her team followed suit, coasting to a 96-42 Golden State Athletic Conference win over San Diego Christian.

Vanguard (21-0, 16-0 in conference), ranked No. 1 in the country, has won 54 consecutive regular-season games and 42 straight GSAC contests.

Richter, who earned GSAC Player of the Week honors last week, came into the game fourth in the GSAC at 20.1 points per game. On Tuesday, she scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in the first seven minutes of the second half, and was six for six from the field after intermission.

This coming after a first half when she didn’t score for the first nine-plus minutes. Yet, thanks to a combined 15 points from senior teammates Kelly Schmidt, Rachel Besse and Lacey Burns, the Lions already had a 20-9 lead at that point.

“That’s one of the components of a successful team,” Richter said. “We’re really deep this year. We all push each other in practice, so it’s great when everyone gets a chance.”

But Richter soon made her presence felt, getting consecutive steals and easy layups. The points were part of a 22-3 run that gave Vanguard a 37-12 lead with five minutes left in the half.

San Diego Christian (3-20, 0-16), which had lost by just 13 points in recent meetings with No. 10 Point Loma Nazarene and No. 13 Azusa Pacific, never got back into the game.

“Our mindset was to come out and play 40 minutes,” Vanguard Coach Russ Davis said. “I think we just played OK, and we still had 96 points. That’s what’s scary.”

Burns had 21 points, including five three-pointers, for Vanguard, and Melissa Cook (14 points and nine rebounds) and Andrea Jacobson (11 points and eight boards) both had strong games off the bench.

Richter had seven steals, part of Vanguard’s total of 19, as the hosts forced San Diego Christian into 31 turnovers.

“Our defense fuels our offense,” she said. “It’s important for us to have a lot of energy on defense, and come out and be aggressive.”

Schmidt finished with just seven points, which was all right for the reigning NAIA Player of the Year, who took just four shots.

“It’s different this year, and it’s a good different,” Schmidt said. “It’s awesome seeing Burns having a great year this year and stepping up for her senior year, and Rachel doing well. Really, any night if you try to take one person away, then the other person’s going to go off. I know that the way we’re playing right now, it’ll really help us come March, when nationals come around.”

Tiari Goold had six assists for Vanguard, which now faces a tough stretch of the GSAC schedule. The Lions are at Azusa Pacific on Saturday and at Pt. Loma on Tuesday.

Vanguard beat APU, 80-72, and Pt. Loma, 69-56, in the first round of GSAC play.

“They’re looking for us, and we’re looking for them,” Davis said. “Those are two great teams. They’re both close to top 10 in the nation and we play them on their home court. That’ll get us ready [for the GSAC and national championships].”

Golden State Athletic ConferenceSan Diego Christian -- Geagel 14, Showers 12, Moore 8, Gentner 4, Hendrickson 2, Hertzog 2.

Vanguard 96,

San Diego Christian 42

3-pt. goals -- Geagel 2, Showers 2.

Fouled out -- None.

Vanguard -- Richter 22, Burns 21, Cook 14, Jacobson 11, Besse 10, Schmidt 7, Goold 6, Rinke 5.

3-pt. goals -- Burns 5, Richter 3, Cook 2, Rinke 1.

Halftime -- 40-21, VU.