Women’s Basketball: Lions handle Hawks
The Vanguard University women’s basketball team has now played three halves without Golden State Athletic Conference Player of the Year Riley Holsinger, who is out for the season with a torn ACL in her right knee.
But with two victories in that time, including a 78-67 triumph against visiting San Diego Christian in the quarterfinals of the GSAC Tournament on Wednesday, the No. 7-ranked Lions are, thus far anyway, missing her more emotionally than physically.
Holsinger, who averaged 19.9 points, 7.8 rebounds, three assists and 2.3 steals per game in the regular season, went down midway through the first half of Saturday’s road upset of GSAC champion Concordia.
But while the stat sheet the last two games has failed to reveal the full extent of Holsinger’s absence, one of the most well-rounded players in the nation will be impossible to miss.
“We miss her,” Vanguard Coach Russ Davis said after his No. 2-seeded team advanced to Friday’s semifinal against No. 6-seeded Hope International, which upset No. 3-seeded Westmont in Santa Barbara on Wednesday. “[Holsinger] is the glue to our defense and she makes a huge difference for us.”
Davis said without Holsinger, whose teammates paid tribute by writing her number 23 on their left shoulder with a black marking pen, the Lions will need to continue to step up.
“It’s so fresh, we still don’t know yet,” Davis said of the full impact of his standout’s devastating injury. “We’ve only had two practices without her, so we’re still working on it. We just need some people to step up and people have done that.”
The main area in which the Lions collected any Holsinger slack was on offense, where juniors Samantha Doucette and Amber Alexander had 22 and 20 points, respectively.
Sophomore Maya Kennedy chipped in 14 points on five-of-nine shooting, including two for four from three-point range.
Doucette, a repeat All-GSAC honoree, was nine for 25 from the field, while Alexander was nine for 17. Alexander had a team-best 10 rebounds to help the Lions post a 37-28 advantage on the glass.
Kennedy had a team-best six assists and two steals and helped the hosts (21-6) record a mere four turnovers, nine fewer than the Hawks (9-21).
Sophomore Jamie Goff came off the bench to contribute nine points, five rebounds, five assists, two blocks and one steal for the Lions.
The victory was No. 499 in 19 seasons for Davis, the GSAC Tri-Coach of the Year who will try to collect No. 500 on Friday.
Doucette acknowledged that the players are still reeling from the loss of their leader. But she said the team’s determination has not been diminished.
“Honestly, it’s still hard to believe,” Doucette said of Holsinger’s relegation to the sideline [she watched from the bleachers behind the bench Wednesday]. “Basically, from here on out, every game we play is for her and we are going to do whatever we can to play for her.
“Our goals are still the same,” Doucette said. “We are still trying to win the GSAC Tournament championship and compete for a national championship.”
San Diego Christian competed well for the first 16 minutes, pulling within 30-29 with 4:40 left in the opening half. After the Hawks answered a Doucette three-pointer to close to within 33-31 with 3:58 left, however, Vanguard finished the half on a 9-2 run.
After four straight Hawks points cut the deficit to 49-42 with 16:04 left in the game, the Lions scored 12 straight points and eventually upped the advantage to 20, before cruising to the win.
Davis was displeased with his team’s defense, which allowed the Hawks to shoot 47.1% from the field, nearly two percentage points better than the Lions. The Hawks made 10 of 19 from threedom (52.6%).
“Offensively, we played really well, especially not having Riley,” Davis said. “ Defensively, we didn’t play well.”
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Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament
Quarterfinal
Vanguard 78, San Diego Christian 67
SDC – Pena 15, Beatty 4, Concepcion 24, Giesselbach 11, Perales 2, Krueger 4, Carbonel 3, Peterson 2, Whittaker 2.
3-pt. goals – Concepcion 5, Pena 3, Giesselbach 1, Carbonel 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
VU – Doucette 22, Alexander 20, Zugasti 4, Tabron 0, Kennedy 14, Goff 9, Martin 3, Hill 3, Blankenship 3.
3-pt. goals – Doucette 3, Kennedy 2, Hill 1, Blankenship 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
Halftime – 42-33, VU.