Daytona Beach, FL – The Westminster College women's basketball team was back in action Tuesday afternoon as they returned for the second and final game of the Daytona Beach Shootout. They faced off against the 10th ranked team in the nation, the Simpson College Storm. Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, Simpson College stormed out to a 19-point lead at the end of the 1st quarter and never looked back. Ultimately, the Storm proved to be too much and defeated the Blue Jays 99-66. The loss brings the Blue Jays record to 4-6 on the season. Simpson improved to 9-1 on the season.
Westminster was led in scoring by a pair of freshmen, Olivia Hixson (Neosho, Mo/ Neosho), who was the team high scorer with 15 points and Annette Ramirez (Sarcoxie, Mo/ Sarcoxie) also scored 13 points for the Blue Jays. They were the only two Blue Jays to score in double digits, Reese Arnold (Lonedell, Mo/ Washington) dropped in 9 as well. The Westminster bench contributed a season high 41 points. Maile Peck (Marshfield, Mo/Marshfield) lead Westminster in rebounds with 4, Abbie Reece (Cape Girardeau, MO/ Cape Central) led with 3 steals and Madison Schaeffer (Cincinnati, Ohio / Fairfield) led the team in assists with 3. Turnovers once again plagued the Blue Jays as they gave up 22 turnovers that led to 24 points for Simpson College.
Simpson College was dominant in the paint scoring 62 points there, which led to them outshooting Westminster College 51% to 39%. Simpson also outrebound Westminster 49-35, with 19 of them being offensive rebounds to Westminster's 11. The Blue Jays were able to make a living at the free throw line and had the Storm in foul trouble early, going 12-20 from the free throw line in the game.
The Westminster College Blue Jays head into the Christmas holiday looking to regroup and come back strong against a highly regarded Washington University program on New Year's Eve. That game tips at Washington University at 3:00 p.m.
