ATHERTON, Calif. – Trailing by one at halftime, the eighth-ranked Vanguard women's basketball team picked up its second half defensive intensity and pulled away with a 75-64 victory over Arizona Christian in the semifinals of the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday.
The Firestorm led 41-40 at intermission after shooting an otherworldly 63.6 (7 of 11) percent from three-point range over the first 20 minutes. ACU shot 50 percent overall, making 14 of 28 field goal attempts. ACU became the first GSAC opponent this season to score 20 or more points against the Lions in both quarters of the first half.
But VU restored order during the final 20 minutes in outscoring the Firestorm 35-23. ACU's shooting efficiency dwindled to 25.0 (8 of 32) percent overall and 21.4 (3 of 14) percent from distance.
Vanguard received a huge third quarter performance from Alexa Silva, who scored all 12 of her points on four three-pointers. The Lions also shot 7 of 14 from the field in the fourth period.
Two-time GSAC Player of the Year Melissa Akullu notched her 20th double-double of the season with game-highs of 25 points and 12 rebounds. Eight of her 12 boards came on the offensive end. She also made her defensive presence felt with three blocked shots and two steals.
Sophomore Jaryn Madsen contributed five of the team's 12 threes for 15 points. The 12 three-point makes represented the third-most in a game for VU this season.
Junior Sarah Matossian chipped in eight points, seven rebounds and six assists, while All-GSAC guard Halle Si'i had six points, six rebounds and nine assists.
VU shot 43.5 (27 of 62) percent overall and 33.3 (12 of 36) percent from three-point range. The Lions have taken 75 three-point attempts over the last two games, the most of any two-game span this season.
VU did a great job harassing ACU's leading scorer Alyssa Alvarez. The Lions held her to six points, 13 below her season average. Kayla Clark and Graciela Roybal led the Firestorm with 12 points apiece.
The Lions are 20-4 overall, while the Firestorm fell to 18-12.
What Happened?: The Lions reclaimed a 42-41 advantage on an Akullu layup to start the third period, and the lead exchanged hands four more times as the game looked like it might go down to the wire.
But the Lions took the lead for good when Si'i hit two free throws to put Vanguard up 46-45 with 4:51 remaining in the third. VU scored 16 of the final 24 points in the quarter to create a 60-53 lead going into the final 10 minutes.
Silva single-handedly created that cushion by splashing four threes in a span of three minutes. The guard tallied 12 of VU's final 13 points in the period.
The Firestorm refused to go away. Although the Lions increased their lead to eight on a Matossian jumper with 9:37 remaining, ACU rattled off six straight points in a minute and a half to pull within 62-60.
Akullu pulled down one of her eight offensive rebounds for a putback to give VU a four-point lead, and Madsen canned a triple at the 6:11 mark to extend the edge to 67-60.
Two Payne free throws brought the Firestorm within 67-62, but the Lions allowed ACU just one basket over the final eight minutes. The Firestorm missed seven straight shots at one point.
The Lions started off the game with a 16-7 lead as Madsen knocked down three triples over the first four minutes and 15 seconds. VU had a 10-point lead on two occasions, but the Firestorm battled back and closed the gap to 26-21, thanks to Roybal and Raegen Henry threes toward the end of the quarter.
ACU shadowed the Lions over the entirety of the second quarter and took its 41-40 halftime lead after scoring the final eight points. Clark and Roybal both hit threes to put ACU in front.
VU started the third period utilizing a half court trap and began contesting every ACU shot.
Why Is It Important?: Vanguard won its 20th game for the 22nd time in 28 seasons under Hall of Fame head coach Russ Davis.
What Was Said?: "Great, tough win on the road tonight. ACU played its hearts out and really battled," said Davis. "They were awesome on offense in the first half. Jaryn came out early and got us going with a barrage of threes. Melissa was herself with another fantastic game. Halle did a great job running the show with nine assists and only two turnovers. Alexa made some huge shots for us in the second half. She had been in a little slump, and I told her in front of the team at shootaround this morning that I felt she would hit three or four tonight. She started off a little slow and then went crazy from behind the arc. Excited to play our last GSAC game in the tournament championship. We have a lot of respect for The Master's and will look forward to the great challenge in front of us tomorrow. Go Lions."
What's Next?: The top-seeded Lions square off against the No. 3 seed Mustangs on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. for the tournament title.
