Despite a double-double of 23 points and 10 assists from Iyree Jarrett, the No. 1 Westmont women’s basketball team (5-1, 0-1 GSAC) fell to No. 20 The Master’s (6-0, 1-0) by a score of 74-68 in front of a raucous crowd in Murchison Gymnasium.
It was the first Golden State Athletic Conference game of the season for both teams.
The Warriors, who trailed at the half 31-25 in the home game, found themselves fighting from a few points behind most of the game – though neither team led by more than eight at any point.
With just over five minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Stefanie Berberabe sank two free throws to pull the Warriors to within one at 61-60. Less than a minute later, Gabriella Stoll connected for two more from the charity stripe, giving Westmont a 62-61 advantage.
The Mustangs responded, however, by scoring the next five points on layups by Ella Brubaker and Lexi Hernandez that sandwiched a free throw by Rebekah Throns. That produced a 66-62 score with a minute and one-half to play.
With just over a minute to play, Jarrett stole the ball away from the Mustangs, and fed it to Berberabe who scored on a layup, making the score 66-64. However, Stephanie Soares responded with a layup to restore the margin to four and the Warriors never got closer than three points again.
Lilia Saenz scored 18 points for the Warriors on six-of-eight shooting from 3-point distance. She also tallied four rebounds. Berberabe added another 11 points and seven rebounds to the Warriors’ tallies.
The Master’s was led by Soares, who produced 25 points and 17 rebounds. Brubaker notched 22 points.
Westmont will return to non-conference play on the Saturday after Thanksgiving in a rematch with Antelope Valley, this time in Lancaster. The following week, the Warriors will travel to Arizona for games against Arizona Christian and Ottawa.
Ron Smith is the sports information director at Westmont College.
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