COSTA MESA – Guard Lauren Baumgartner (JR/Meridian, ID) scored a season-high 20 points as the Vanguard women's basketball team defeated visiting San Diego Christian, 73-58, on Thursday evening at The Pit.
Baumgartner shot 7-of-14 from the floor, making four three-pointers. She added four rebounds, six assists and two steals in 31 minutes.
Guard Airiana Madanski (SO/Gilbert, AZ) chipped in 16 points, three assists and two rebounds.
Melissa Akullu (SO/Kampala, Uganda) posted her fifth straight double-double and 13th of the season, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes. The fourth Lion double-digit scorer was guard Estefania Giner (JR/Chihuahua, Mexico), who had 10 points.
Vanguard shot 48.3 percent (29-of-60) from the floor while holding the Hawks to 34.0 percent (18-of-53) shooting. The Lions have won three of their last four games – and in those three victories have limited their opponents to a combined 34.5 percent (57-of-165) shooting.
Vanguard led from start to finish in holding the Hawks to 58 points. The Lions improved to 6-0 in conference play when limiting their opponent to less than 60 points.
The Lions are now 11-11 overall and 7-10 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. The Hawks fell to 7-18 overall and 4-13 in league play.
What Happened?: The Lions forged a 20-16 lead after one quarter. The two teams were tied at 11-11 when Vanguard engineered a 9-0 run to take a 20-11 lead. Isabel Feller scored the final seven points in the period as the Hawks closed within four.
Maddison Zugna's two free throws knotted the score at 20-20 at the 8:51 mark of the second quarter. The Lions created some separation, using a 10-0 run to grab a 30-20 lead as Madanski and Baumgartner drained threes.
But the Hawks held tough as they outscored the Lions 13-6 the rest of the way to trail 36-35 at halftime. Carly Wheeler knocked down a pair of threes to keep San Diego Christian close.
The Lions came out with heightened intensity on defense in the second half. The Hawks managed to shoot just 19.2 percent (5-of-26) in the final two periods while Vanguard countered with 46.4 percent (13-of-28). In fact, SDCC had just two field goals in the third quarter alone as VU outscored the Hawks 17-10.
Madanski's three opened up a 46-39 lead with 5:52 to go in the third. A layup by Akullu and two free throws from Gabriela Rosas (SR/Chihuahua, Mexico) increased the advantage to 50-41. VU settled for the 53-45 lead after three.
VU pulled away from the Hawks in the final 10 minutes thanks to Baumgartner and Akullu combined with more tough defense. Akullu's layup with 6:54 remaining extended the Lion advantage 61-50, the team's first double-digit lead. Baumgartner followed with a three as the lead ballooned to 64-50. The Lions held SDCC to 23 percent shooting in the fourth quarter as they walked away with the 15-point victory.
Why Is It Important?: Vanguard is getting consistent production from its starting lineup as that group accounted for 68 of the team's 73 points against the Hawks. The team's floor general, Baumgartner has dished out 15 assists against just two turnovers in Vanguard's last three wins.
What Was Said?: "We played a much better second half tonight for sure," said Head Coach Russ Davis. " We were really sloppy tonight on some key things and didn't play well but when you don't play well you need to give credit to the other team and coaches for making that happen."
What's Next?: The Lions play their final game in The Pit on Saturday against Hope International. Tip time is 5:30 p.m. Vanguard learned earlier tonight that it will be the No. 7 seed in the upcoming GSAC Tournament, and will play No. 10 Life Pacific in the first round.
