No worry, VU still perfect

COSTA MESA — As the shots clanked off the rim in the first half, the Vanguard University women’s basketball team didn’t panic.

The Lions’ best offense against No. 13-ranked Point Loma Nazarene ended up being their defense.

Jessica Richter had 23 points, 10 rebounds and five steals, helping NAIA No. 1-ranked Vanguard remain undefeated, 69-56, at The Pit on Tuesday night in a battle of Golden State Athletic Conference unbeatens.

Seniors Rachel Besse (eight points and seven rebounds) and Kelly Schmidt (seven points and six rebounds) added four steals each, but Melissa Cook had maybe the biggest swipe of all for Vanguard.

The Lions (13-0, 8-0 in conference) were down, 30-18, with under a minute to go in the first half. Richter canned a three-pointer, then Cook collected a steal at midcourt against the Sea Lions (12-4, 7-1).

Cook fed Richter, who made a layup and was fouled, converting the three-point play. That put Vanguard down just six at halftime, despite never holding a first-half lead and shooting just 27%.

“That gave us energy at halftime, for sure,” said senior Lacey Burns, who finished with 19 points. “Our shots weren’t falling, and that affected our defense. Once we went on a run at the end of the first half, it gave us some confidence and we took it from there.”

Tiari Goold hit a three-pointer to open the second half, and Burns’ three-pointer from the corner with 17:45 to play gave Vanguard its first lead of the game, at 33-32.

“At the start of the game, we weren’t really ready to play,” said Vanguard assistant coach Lisa Faulkner, the former Lions’ point guard who shared coaching duties with assistant John Barney as head coach Russ Davis was home sick. “In the second half, we played our game a little bit more. That starts defensively. When we get out and we’re aggressive defensively, we get a lot of easy baskets.”

Schmidt, who shot zero for seven in the first half, only had one official shot attempt in the second half. But she played hard down low, and made seven free throws — also all in the second half.

“She’s not struggling,” Richter said. “She was just getting a lot of contact down there. But that’s the great thing about our team, that we’re great at so many different positions. We don’t have to have one person who does it all, because we’re solid all the way through.”

Richter’s two free throws gave Vanguard a 52-39 lead with 10:18 to go. Point Loma scored five straight points, which included a Meghan McGuire three-pointer, to bring the Sea Lions within eight. But then Burns hit a big three-pointer from the corner to give the Lions a 55-44 lead with 9:15 left.

Point Loma was unable to get within six points the rest of the way, despite shooting 45% from the field (20 for 44) for the game.

Vanguard shot just 31% (21 for 67), but worked Point Loma on the boards. The Lions had 23 offensive rebounds compared to just seven for the Sea Lions.

“We respect this team a lot,” Faulkner said. “They’re a team that has come back on a lot of teams. We talked about trying to put them away and play our game, and I feel like we finished the game strong.”

Point Loma jumped out to an 11-5 lead in the first four minutes of the game on three-pointers from Colleen Planeta, Angela Manjarrez and Brittany Dove. The Sea Lions led by at least four points for the rest of the half.

Vanguard will attempt to remain undefeated at Biola on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

Golden State Athletic ConferencePt. Loma -- Planeta 13, Sutton-Wodarski 12, McGuire 9, Dove 7, Manjarrez 7, Dotson 4, Arriloa 2, Wesolowski 2.

Vanguard 69,

Point Loma Nazarene 56

3-pt. goals -- McGuire 2, Dove 1, Planeta 1, Manjarrez 1.

Fouled out -- Dove, Arriloa.

Technicals -- None.

Vanguard -- Richter 23, Burns 19, Besse 7, Schmidt 7, Rinke 6, Goold 5, Cook 2.

3-pt. goals -- Burns 3, Rinke 2, Richter 1, Goold 1.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.

Halftime -- 30-24, Pt. Loma.