Westminster’s Maddy Gassman scored 18 points and had 10 steals and six rebounds to lead the visiting Owls to a 46-41 victory over Mount de Sales.
The senior proved to be a starter and a closer, helping the Owls to a 14-9 lead with 10 points and four steals in the first quarter and finishing the game with eight points and four steals in the fourth quarter.
“We just have to play with intensity. We just have to focus on our defense leading into our offense, always pushing the ball, looking for each other, playing for each other and then ultimately that’s just how our team succeeds going fast,” Gassman said. “I always try to focus on defense. You can always play defense. Your shots might not always go, but you can always build the intensity and that leads to our offense and that’s what we really focus on as a team.”
The Sailors struggled shooting in the first half and fell behind 23-16 at halftime as they committed 12 turnovers. The Owls’ lead could have been larger, but they were hindered by 12 first-half turnovers.
But the Owls kept All-IAAM senior Shelby Lewis to two points in the first quarter with double and triple teams.
“We knew that she was a big threat for them and their offense really went through her, so we were trying to focus on whenever she got the ball, doubling, tripling down on her and getting out on the kick-outs,” Gassman said.
“She will be tripled all year long and she’s really good at practice by letting others get involved because they’ve got to step up when she’s tripled,” said Mount de Sales coach Trish Armstrong, who was without All-IAAM guard Mackenzie Conley in the contest.
The Sailors (5-2) opened the second half with an 8-0 run after five straight points from Lewis, who finished with 16 points, and a 3-pointer by Ella Pointer (15 points), giving them a 24-23 lead.
It lead didn’t affect Westminster (4-1) much, as the Owls responded with a seven-point run to take the lead, 30-24.
“We just kept our composure and just stuck with our game plan,” Gassman said. “We learned from our mistakes and corrected those and when we saw what was working we just kept building off of that.”
It started with a putback by Aspen Higgs (eight points) with 4:22 left in the third quarter. A perimeter shot and free throw by Emma Jones and basket by Xaviah Burgee completed the run.
Baskets by Powers and Lewis cut the deficit to 30-28.
“I think one thing that all of us have been saying is the give-and-gos and getting the ball inside and outside and swinging it. The ball movement has really been helping our scoring,” said Lewis, who has committed to play at Carnegie Melon next year. “Instead of coming down and shooting the first shot we get, just getting it in and out and getting it around.”
The Sailors answered a basket by Gassman with a pair of 3-pointers by Lewis and Sarah Litz for a 34-32 lead with 5:10 left in the game. Two conventional 3-point plays by Kole Peach and Higgs sandwiched a bucket by Lewis and the Owls regained the lead, 38-36 lead with 3:14 remaining.
A steal led to a basket by Gassman, but Litz canned a 3-pointer and the lead was 40-39. Jones made a big follow up for a 42-39 lead with 2:05 left and less than a minute later Lewis was forced out for the rest of game after she took a blow to the stomach.
The Owls scored the next four points on free throws by Gassman and the only Sailors points came on a shot at the buzzer by Allison Lindner. The Owls forced 13 turnovers in the second half and Gassman was in on creating most of them.
“She is deceptively quick, but very intuitive, and when these guys are playing together on the defensive end and they know where the other is, then I’m going to take this risk and you’re going to be on my back side to help,” Westminster coach Dave Urban, noting Gassman hasn’t been going as fast in practice recently.
“She just got over walking pneumonia and she won’t say anything,” Urban said. “She came to us about a week ago and said, ‘By the way if I’m being a little sluggish it’s because of that,’ and she tried to manage it and in practice she would just do walk through stuff.”
Urban had a message for her: “In games, if you look like you are laboring in any way, I’m taking you out.”
She never came out against the Sailors.
Westminster — 14 9 7 16 — 46
Mount de Sales — 9 7 12 13 — 41
WEST: Maddy Gassman 18, Aspen Higgs 8, Kole Peach 7, Xaviah Burgee 6, Emma Jones 5, Brinley Boag 2
MDS: Shelby Lewis 16, Ella Powers 15, Sarah Litz 6, Cecilia Hanibal 2, Allison Lindner 2
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