ATHERTON, Calif. – Five Vanguard players scored in double figures – aided by career-best efforts from freshmen Natalie Scherzer and Ashlin Crabtree – as the Lions posted an impressive 72-60 victory over Menlo in a Golden State Athletic Conference women's basketball showdown on Thursday.
With the victory, Vanguard moved into a tie for first place with Menlo in the GSAC. Both teams are 8-2 with four games left to play. The Lions improved to 15-4 overall, while the Oaks fell to 15-6.
Scherzer and Crabtree shot a combined 9 of 17 overall, including 7 of 13 from distance, keying a 27-8 advantage in bench points. Scherzer scored 13 points in 17 minutes of action, and surpassed her previous career-high of nine against Bethesda on January 15. Crabtree knocked down four threes en route to her career-best 12 points in 22 minutes.
Their three-point prowess was crucial to the victory as the Lions won the three-point battle (9-3) and held the Oaks, which came in second in the GSAC in three-point field goal percentage, to just 25 percent (3 of 12) shooting from distance.
Senior Melissa Akullu notched her 12th straight double-double and 16th of the season as she finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds. The center shot 8 of 13 overall and added a pair of steals.
The other two Lions in double figures were Sarah Matossian and Halle Si'i. Matossian played all 40 minutes and ended up with 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Si'i had another all-around solid effort with 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals.
The Lions shot 45.0 (27 of 60) percent from the field, while the Oaks finished at 43.1 (25 of 58) percent.
Kiara Brown tallied a game-high 24 points on 10 of 19 shooting for Menlo. She added a team-best seven rebounds. The Lions held Jordyn Rosette, who came in averaging nearly 14 points per game, to just six points on 3 of 9 shooting.
What Happened?: The Lions utilized a 14-0 run spanning an eight-minute stretch between the first and second periods to create the separation they would mostly maintain for the duration of the game.
With VU trailing 18-13, the Lions closed the first period with six straight points to take a one-point lead. Akullu hit 1 of 2 at the foul line, Crabtree drained a three and Si'i had a buzzer-beating layup to give the Lions momentum into the second period.
Crabtree sank another triple to help VU reel off the first eight points of the second stanza. Menlo ended a nearly six-minute scoring drought on a jumper from Shay Boley to cut VU's lead to 27-20, but then Scherzer went to work.
The guard hit a trey to extend the Blue and Gold's lead to double digits for the first time, 30-20, with 5:51 to go in the first half. She knocked down another three and followed with a jumper to extend the Lion lead to 37-24 with 2:25 remaining.
VU went into halftime leading 37-28 after Rosette and Brown hit buckets.
Out of the break, the Oaks got a layup from Boley to trim their deficit to 37-30. Alexa Silva, who did not play in Saturday's thrilling comeback win over Hope International, got into the scoring column as she answered with a three to bring VU's lead back to double digits.
The Oaks whittled their deficit down to as few as five points as Rosette's layup made it 46-41 Lions with 4:47 to go. But the Lions closed the third quarter scoring nine of the last 12 points with the VU freshmen playing a key role. Crabtree's three and Scherzer's layup helped the Lions carry a 55-44 lead into the fourth period.
The Lions pulled away in the final quarter. VU started a 20-5 run toward the end of the third – and after Si'i made 1 of 2 at the line – the cushion became 66-46 with 6:40 to play.
The Oaks failed to get their deficit into single digits the rest of the way.
Why Is It Important?: Menlo capitalized on a season-high 24 VU turnovers in the first meeting between the two teams, a 75-54 victory in which the Oaks outscored the Lions 54-20 in the second half. The Lions had a more manageable 16 miscues in the rematch, leading to 19 Menlo points. The emergence of Crabtree and Scherzer was huge. Those two played just a combined 13 minutes in the first matchup with Menlo.
What Was Said?: "This was a great team win," said Assistant Head Coach Sierra Vaglica. "We shot well as a team and locked in defensively. Ashlin and Nat stepped up big tonight and shot the ball with confidence. I'm proud of the way we played together, and we had great energy from start to finish."
What's Next?: The Lions complete their northern California roadtrip against Jessup on Saturday at noon. The Warriors are one game back of first place in the GSAC.
