COSTA MESA -- The reverse fixture in Pacific West women's basketball saw Vanguard complete the season sweep of Concordia Irvine with a 69-44 victory on Thursday night.  The Lions never trailed in the contest and saw two stellar moments for Halle Si'i and Sarah Matossian in the win.  Si'i led the team with 17 points and her layup with 5:37 left in the contest was magical, as it planted the junior on exactly 1,000 career points.  Matossian was a monster on the glass, cleaning up 21 rebounds to easily set a career-high and put herself tied for third all-time for rebounds in a single game.  Vanguard improves to 13-6 overall and 11-2 in PacWest play, while CUI falls to 3-16, 2-10.
 
VU was effective despite turning the ball over 21 times to CUI's 12 but the Lions cleaned up on the glass with a 57-27 lead, including a 19-8 edge in offensive boards.  Matossian had seven points, a career-high nine offensive rebounds, and paced the Lions with four assists.  Si'i shot 6-of-15 from the field, went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, and tallied five boards and three helpers.
 
What Happened?  Emma Schaaf had the first point of the contest on a free throw but both teams missed shots over the next minute.  Si'i made the first field goal of the night, which was replied by the Golden Eagles.  The VU edge was helped with layups by Mataossian and Aryanna Hudson but CUI had a rebuttal for each as the period moved along.  Up 9-7, Hudson deposited two layups within a minute of game time to put the lead at 13-7 and Ashlin Crabtree soon hit Akilah Kubi in stride to increase the gap to 15-10.  A layup off an offensive rebound by Matossian sent the Lions up 17-10 after one quarter of play despite CUI shooting 50% from the floor in the first period.
 
Brittney Tran pocketed a triple for VU to open the second and then found a layup to extend the advantage to 22-12.  The lead started to grow after the midway point of the frame, as layups by Schaaf and Si'i hoisted the Blue and Gold to a 28-16 advantage.  The Lions truly launched from there, ending the half on a 9-0 stretch to lead 37-16 at the break.  Vanguard shot 53.8% in the period and were led by Schaaf, who tallied six points.  VU earned a 48.3% shooting percentage at the break and held CUI to a 22% mark even though the Lions were down in the turnover battle 12-7.
 
Each side posted around 10 points over the first five minutes of the third, with Matossian making two free throws and both Si'i and Madsen delivering triples to increase the advantage to 45-23 at the 7:13 mark.  Si'i hit another shot from downtown a minute later and the Blue and Gold controlled the rest of the period to lead 56-30 after three quarters.
 
CUI might have won the final frame 14-13 but it did not threaten the VU lead, as the Lions cruised to a 69-44 victory to win both matchups against the Golden Eagles.  A layup by Hudson and free throws for Naomi Hotchkiss concluded the scoring for the Blue and Gold, who ended the game shooting 40.3%  CUI was held to a 30% clip from the field and made only three shots from downtown on 20 attempts (15%).  VU was 8-for-22 to net a 36% mark from deep.  The Lions and Golden Eagles were close in total free throw attempts (13-11 VU) but the Lions made more than their guests (11-5).
 
Schaaf had 13 points and 16 boards, Hudson had 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting, and Madsen made two triples.
 
Why is it Important?  The Lions vault into first place in the PacWest standings heading into two big games that close out the homestand.  APU lost to Point Loma tonight, putting all three schools at 11-2 overall, with VU holding the current tiebreakers.  The sweep makes VU perfect in the last three meetings versus CUI.  Matossian is behind two other greats for rebounds in a single game, as Melissa Akullu leads the way with 26 and Claire Lamunu is next with 24.  It is Lamunu who Matossian is tied with, as Claire did it twice in 2016.
 
What was Said?  "Congrats to Halle for surpassing 1,000 points tonight," said Head Coach Russ Davis.  "I thought we played with lots of energy and completely dominated the boards.  We still have a ton of work to do and we have things we need to clean up for sure.  I'm happy to have some time off before we play again.  Very happy that we are in first place and have the current tiebreakers as well.  There is a lot of basketball still ahead and some really difficult games in the few games here for sure.  Sarah and Emma had a huge night on the glass and I'm not sure if we've ever had two players combine for such a high amount before.  They were awesome."
 
What's Next?  VU will see its seat at the top of the table tested first by Westmont next Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.