Steve Virgen
Fresh off its 66-52 season-opening victory at San Diego State, the
Vanguard University women's basketball team seemed determined to
build off that win.
The Lions did so on the scoreboard and on the stat sheet, but
their coach, Russ Davis, said he did not see his team play to its
full potential, though it won, 102-47, over nonconference visitor La
Sierra Saturday.
"I didn't think we looked that good," Davis said. "We only played,
really, about 15 minutes of good basketball. People might think I'm
crazy because we won big, but I don't coach the scoreboard. There
were some bad passes out there, some lack of energy and a lack of
focus."
La Sierra (0-4) had only two leads, 10-7, and, 12-10, early in the game. The Golden Eagles stayed close to Vanguard through most of the
first half, trailing, 24-20, with 7:35 left. But Vanguard closed out
the first half with a 20-2 run, which included three-pointers by
juniors Lacey Mills (two) and Lisa Faulkner and sophomore Cecilia
Josefsson.
Faulkner, a UC Irvine transfer who scored 14 points, dished out 19
assists, a school record for one game.
She surpassed Amy Pena's former mark of 17 from 1999. Faulkner had
several fancy, no-look passes, as she penetrated La Sierra's defense
and then found an open teammate.
Freshman Kelly Schmidt was also sensational in her home debut,
scoring 33 points, which tied a single-game record (Laura Lee).
Schmidt, a 6-foot forward from Glendale, Ariz., shot 10 of 11 from
the field and hit 13 of her 15 free throws to go with a game-high 12
rebounds. Josefsson (17), Rachel Besse (13) and Mills (10) were also
in double-figure scoring.
*--*
Nonconference
Vanguard 102, La Sierra 47
La Sierra -- Ivancie 15, Barnum 8, Cobb 7, Stinson 7, Simic 3, Kauhane 3, Buettner 2, Sivertsen 2. 3-pt. goals -- None. Technicals -- None. Fouled out -- Stinson. Vanguard -- Schmidt 33, Josefsson 17, Faulkner 14, Besse 13, Mills 10, Wilcox 8, Burns 6,
Dittenbir 1. 3-pt. goals -- Josefsson 3, Faulkner 3, Mills 2. Technicals -- None. Fouled out -- None. Halftime -- VU, 44-22.
*--*
