Box Score SALT LAKE CITY – Westminster opened a four-game home stand on Thursday night with a 78-72 win over Holy Names to conclude the opening day of the Westminster Basketball Festival. The 16th-ranked Griffins used a 15-4 run to open the game, but held on late for the victory. The win improves Westminster to a perfect 6-0 on the season while dropping Holy Names to 1-3.
Westminster held a 41-27 advantage at the intermission, sparked by 23 first half points from
Elisa Leader. That lead would hover around double-digits until the 12-minute mark of the second half when Holy Names made it 60-51. Westminster was cold shooting in the second session, shooting just 31 percent from the floor in the half. That helped Holy Names cut it to a 66-65 games with 4:44 to play. The Griffins used solid defense and grabbed some key rebounds down the stretch to secure the victory.
Leader finished the game with a career high 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting. As a team, Westminster recorded its poorest shooting night of the season at just 40.0 percent. They were also just 5-for-20 from 3-point range, with Leader connecting on 4-of-6. Westminster didn't score a field goal over the final 2:47 of the game, but went 4-for-6 from the free throw line.
Michelle Pace recorded a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Shannon Evans added 15 points and four assists while
Alexis Tucker scored eight points and had 12 rebounds. Westminster outrebounded Holy Names 44-39 in the game and had an 11-4 advantage in second chance points.
Raquel Hyche led Holy Names with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting and her teammate Chelsie Kadota scored 16 points. Holy Names got 22 points off the bench to just 13 by Westminster. They also turned 19 Westminster turnovers into 28 points and scored 18 fast break points.
Westminster continues play in the festival with a 6:00 p.m. game on Friday, November 14 against 13th-ranked Cal Baptist. That game will conclude the second day of the Westminster Basketball Festival with games at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to precede it.
