Women’s basketball: Lions drop third straight

Tony Altobelli

COSTA MESA - The Vanguard University women’s basketball team

dropped its third straight Golden State Athletic Conference contest

Saturday night, 68=63, to visiting Concordia.

“We’ve got to get better in a hurry,” Vanguard Coach Russ Davis said.

“We’re still having trouble running our offense consistently.”

The Lions (14-9, 7-7 in conference) were led by Becki Huddle with 12

points, while Kelly Boeke chipped in 12.

The Eagles (12-13, 8-6) controlled the boards, outrebounding the

Lions, 45-34. Taryn Commins grabbed 15 rebounds to go along with her 19

points. Aina Kohler led all scorers with 23 points.

Concordia also found success at the free-throw line, hitting 19 of 28

in the second half. Commins scored 13 of her 23 points from the foul

stripe.

“We just needed to match their intensity and take better care of the

ball,” Concordia Coach Greg Dinneen said. “The last time we played them

(a 61-52 VU win on Jan. 13) they were very aggressive and really took it

too us. We wanted to play like that tonight.”

The win snaps the Lions’ eight-game winning streak against the Eagles.

The Lions led, 47-45, with seven minutes remaining, but an 11-2

Eagles’ run gave Concordia the lead for good.

A Commins three-pointer gave the Eagles an 11-point lead with only 35

seconds left, but Vanguard still made it interesting.

Vanguard hit six straight points and nearly cut the lead down to two

with a three-point shot, but the ball rattled off the rim and Concordia

held on.

After shooting only 28% from the field in the first half (7 for 25),

the Eagles regrouped and shot 52% in the second half (12 for 23).