COSTA MESA -- Vanguard women's basketball regained its feet after two defeats last week with an 82-66 victory over Dominican University of California. The Lions benefited from
Emma Schaaf's career night for points scored, as she put down 30 in 38 minutes of action. The Blue and Gold also held a blistering 57.7% shooting rate from downtown in the contest, with 15 conversions (15-for-26) compared to six by DUC. The Lions improved to 13-4 overall and 9-3 in league play, while the Penguins dropped to 15-4, 9-4.
What Happened? The teams did not find much separation over the first three quarters, as leads never got above 10 and the Lions and the Penguins were within a basket of each other at the end of those frames.
Akilah Kubi put VU on the board with a free throw to start the game, and a block by Schaaf at the other end highlighted her early presence. Yet DUC registered the next six points to take a 7-1 advantage, good for one of the Penguins' largest leads of the night.
Natalie Scherzer nailed two shots from beyond the arc to claw the Lions back to a 10-10 tie, but the Penguins planted another 7-0 streak to stake leads of 17-10 and then 19-12. The Blue and Gold replied to end the frame, as Schaaf put in a layup in transition, and both
Micaela Hanning and
Jaryn Madsen landed treys to cinch the score at 21-all after 10 minutes. DUC shot 45% in the frame and used their tempo to net nine field goals. Vanguard shot 46.67% from the floor, with four of those coming from three-point land (4-7, 57.14%).
Madsen converted a three to open the second frame and restore Vanguard to the lead. VU shot up to a six-point edge via a Hanning three with 7:28 to go, and Dominican could not tie the contest in the period. The Penguins got the gap down to two at 31-29, but Schaaf had the answer with the next five points for the Lions. VU was ahead 36-30, but a DUC three with 11 seconds left cut the halftime score to 36-30. Both teams made only five shots in the second interval and had their worst shooting rates.
The Penguins started the third with a layup, but another Hanning three and a
Kaylee Byon floater put the Blue and Gold ahead 41-35. The Penguins whittled the gap down to two over the next few minutes, but both Hanning and
Aryanna Hudson rang up shots from downtown to launch the advantage to 50-44 with 4:41 left. The lead remained around five points until time started to run low, as DUC had a 5-0 stretch to bring the score down to 54-53 with 44 seconds left. But a free throw from
Shayla O'Neil put the Lions up two entering the fourth. DUC was 6-for-14 from the floor in the third (42.8%), while VU was 5-of-13 (38.4%), though the squad went 4-for-7 from deep.
The sides exchanged salvos over the first three minutes, but a Madsen three with 6:50 to go put the lead at 64-58, and the Lions rocketed away from there. Madsen's shot was the first of four triples by the Lions over three minutes, as Schaaf dropped in two and O'Neil one to put the Vanguard lead at 73-63. The Penguins had only one layup during that stretch, and though the visitors had a couple of shots fall the rest of the way, the lead never fell below 10 for Vanguard. A Hanning trey off a pass from Byon, who made a jumper to close the scoring for the night, gave VU the 82-66 victory. VU shot 75% (9-12) in the final frame and went 5-of-6 from deep (83.3%). Dominican made only four of its 15 attempts (26.67%).
The Lions went 26-63 for the game from the floor (41.3%), and DUC went 24-for-62 (38.7%). The Blue and Gold held a 43-32 edge in rebounds on the night, including a 14-9 lead in offensive boards. Hanning had 17 points and went almost perfect from beyond the arc with a 5-for-6 showing, a career-high. Madsen had nine points (all from deep, 3-for-6) and tied the game-high with nine rebounds. Byon had eight points and a game-high 12 assists. Schaaf made nine of her 12 free throw attempts.
Why is it Important? VU stays in the top four of the PacWest and has won all seven meetings in the history of the matchup with DUC.
What's Next? Vanguard is in the middle of a big home stand and comes back on Saturday for a 4:00 p.m. match against Hawaii Pacific.
