COSTA MESA -- While the Warriors of Life Pacific sparred well with the Vanguard women's basketball team in the first quarter Monday night, the Lions owned the middle frames. VU outscored LPU 51-16 on either side of halftime to assist in an 88-36 victory that put VU at 4-1 overall.
The night belonged to
Kaylee Byon, who pocketed a game-high 22 points and tied a game-high with four assists. Byon made all but one shot (10-for-11), with only one attempt from downtown refusing to go down for the transfer (2-of-3).
Shayla O'Neil took her cue and settled into second on VU with 12 points, making all five of her field goals and both of her free throws.
Jaryn Madsen tallied 11 points and had seven boards, one behind team leader
Emma Schaaf (eight).
12 Lions got on the floor, and each one scored in the contest, with the team shooting 48.7% from the floor at the end of the night (37-for-76).
What Happened? Byon opened the meeting with back-to-back jumpers that floated home, but the Warriors were able to tie things at 5-5 with a triple just past three minutes in. A finish off the glass for
Halle Si'i was followed by a steal for
Micaela Hanning, with Byon finishing off the fast break. The lead climbed to 14-8 off a Byon three, but a Warrior jumper at the end of the period put LPU down 14-10.
Despite the Warriors trimming the gap to 18-15 in the first two minutes of the second frame, the Lions scored the next 13 points and never relented. The home side shot 64.2% in the second quarter (9-of-14) and 55% in the third (11-for-20) to put plenty of distance between themselves and Life Pacific. O'Neil tallied six of those 13 unanswered points in the second and
Ashlin Crabtree buried a trey to help grow the advantage.
Natalie Scherzer netted her first points at home in almost two years, and
Emma Schaaf had five points over the opening stages of the third.
The Blue and Gold had a 53-30 edge in rebounds for the night and forced 22 turnovers while committing just 12. The lineup banked 28 points off the LPU turnovers, scored 17 on fast breaks, and had a healthy 37-13 lead in bench points.
What was Said? "A good win tonight," offered Head Coach
Russ Davis, who is nearing win number 700 in his career. "Everyone got to play, and after a slow start, we really competed and played hard. The conference schedule is starting now and we need to get better. The entire conference has really improved, and that makes for an exciting race. We have to bring it every game, or we will get beat. We have lots of work to do, and I know our team will put in that work."
What's Next? The Lions host Menlo in the opening PacWest game of the year on December 4 at 5:30 p.m.
