Louisville, KY 2/12/2022- The Westminster women's basketball team went on the road to Spalding University to take on the Golden Eagles. The potent Blue Jays offense proved too much as they are coming home winners, defeating the Golden Eagles 91-61. The Jays had five different double-digit scorers, and the Jays' leading scorer Reese Arnold (Lonedell, Mo. / Washington), was not one of them.
The Blue Jays only trailed one time, and that was when Spalding held a two-point lead two minutes into the game. From there, Westminster was in front of the rest of the game. The Golden Eagles would make them earn it, though. The Blue Jays had an 11-point lead with 2:56 to go in the opening quarter. That would shrink to just four points by quarter's end after the Golden Eagles went on a 7-0 run. The quarter ended with a score of 23-19.
The Golden Eagles would tie the game 23 apiece thirty seconds into the second quarter and is the closest the game got after this point. Westminster went on an 8-0 after this, thanks to Madison Schaeffer (Cincinnati, Ohio / Fairfield) scoring six of those points. She made two free throws, an offensive rebound put-back, and a baby left-handed hook shot from the middle of the paint. Sophomore Shelby Kurtz (Camdenton, Mo. / Camdenton) ended the run with a short bank shot from the left block, assisted by Schaeffer. Later in the quarter, Kurtz drained a three to give her squad the largest lead of the game to that point at 13. They would head into halftime with a score of 45-32. The Blue Jays made some adjustments between quarters and had a much better second quarter. They would score 22 points and would hold the opposition to 13 points.
Westminster would come out of halftime and blow the game wide open. They turned a 13-point lead into a 30-point lead by the end of the game. They would defeat the Golden Eagles with a final score of 91-61. The 91 points would be the second-highest score total this season.
Kurtz led all scorers with 19 points, going 7-10 from the field. Five would come from behind the three-point arc. Schaeffer had a double-double, her sixth of the season. She would score an efficient 16 points, going 6-8 from the field and 4-4 from the free-throw line. She also brought in a team-high ten boards. Annette Ramirez (Sarcoxie, MO / Sarcoxie) would score 15 points. Avylina Powell-Qualo (Republic, Mo. / Republic) scored 12 and had game-high four steals. And the fifth Blue Jay to score in the double digits is Senior Abbie Reece, who went 5-8 and chipped in 10 points.
Westminster dominated in the rebounding category, grabbing 52 total rebounds; 21 were offensive rebounds that resulted in 31-second chance points and 48 points in the painted area. The victory brings them to 10-2 in the conference and 14-9 overall.
The Westminster women's basketball team return to Fulton and looking forward to senior night on Wednesday, February 16th. They take on the Beavers of Blackburn College. The game will tip at 5:30 p.m.
