Basketball (W)

2/6/10- Royals Force Double Overtime, Come Away Short

Santa Barbara, CA- Down by nine at halftime, and then down again late in the second half, Hope International force Westmont to play not one but two overtimes before falling 92-88.  For the second game in a row, Junior Champ Hood had her way against an opponent as she torched the Warriors for 31 points and 10 rebounds.

Picking up where is left off in Tuesday’s game against Concordia, Hood- pictured at right-, scored the first four points for the Royals (8-15, 3-10 GSAC) in Saturday’s game against the Warriors (14-7, 7-6 GSAC).

A made free throw at the 15:08 mark by Westmont gave them a lead that they would not relinquish (with the exception of a tie) the remainder of the half.  That tie came at 14-14 and the Warriors would outscore the Royals the 21-12 the rest of the half.

Down by nine at the break for the Royals was not for lack effort from Hood as she finished the opening half 6-7 from the floor on her way to 13 points.  In fact, the Royals as a whole shot well as they knocked 52.2% of their shots from inside the three point line.  Both teams made 12 first half field goals but the big difference in the score was that the Warriors knocked down 5 three pointers while the Royals threw up the big goose egg from beyond the arc.

After the break, both teams scored two points before Hood put home two baskets to pull the Royals back within five.  Sophomore Lauren Salazar then buried two three pointers to keep the Royals on the comeback trail.

With 12:02 left in regulation, the Royals completed the comeback when Sophomore Kasey Philyaw hit a jumper to tie the score at 48-48.  Hood gave the Royals their first lead since the early goings with a layup in the paint.

The Warriors answered and took back the lead which they eventually built up to a six point lead on two different occasions with the final time coming at the 4:49 mark.

From that point, the Royals dominated the game and used a 10-4 run to tie the score.  Unfortunately, the Royals are kicking themselves for what could have been as they limited the Warriors to just four possessions the final three minutes of regulation.  On the other hand, the Royals attempted 10 total shots in the same time frame but made just three of them.  The stat that hurts the most was the 1-4 from the free throw line counted as part of those ten shots.

In the first overtime session, it was the Hood and Senior Sarah Nylander show as Champ scored five and Sarah drilled two three pointers for 6 of her 13 total points.

But the Warriors were also up to the challenge and off to the second extra period the game went.

Made free throws in the second overtime for the Warriors finally led to them earning the win which was ironic due to both teams combining to miss 27 free throws throughout the course of the game.

Come Tuesday, the Royals will find themselves in Costa Mesa for a 5:30 pm tip-off with Vanguard.

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