Box Score

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Las Vegas, NV— The Oxy women's basketball team was in action on Friday morning in South Point Arena in Las Vegas against the Westminster College Blue Jays. 

Oxy started the game off with a made free throw from Gabriela Etopio and a made layup from Ainsley Shelsta. Westminster was able to create a small lead early on but Dara Tokeshi cut the deficit down to 3 points by making both of her free throws with 4:25 remaining in the 1st quarter. 

The Tigers closed the quarter out with two made layups from Toni Thompson, one of which was an and-1 opportunity that was converted by Thompson. Westminster responded with a made put back jumper and would hold a 16-12 lead over Oxy heading into the 2nd quarter. 

Oxy came out firing on all cylinders to start the 2nd quarter on a 14-1 offensive scoring run that was started with Micah Elegores making two free throws to start the corner and included a made 3-pointer from Paige Yasukochi. The Tiger lead got up to 9 points at the end of the run when Michelle Lagunas-Monroy made a layup.

The Blue Jays were not going to go down quietly, however, as they put together a 8-0 scoring run of their own to cut the lead down to 1 point by a score of 26-25 heading into halftime. The 3rd quarter would be closely contested with both teams trading made shots. Paige Yasukochi made another 3-pointer for the Tigers early on in the quarter and Toni Thompson added on with a second-chance made jumper to make the score 33-30 Oxy. 

Yasukochi would score the Tigers next 4 points on two made jumpers before Ainsley Shelsta scored a layup off of a turnover. Yasukochi would make another 3-pointer to extend the lead to 11 points for Oxy as the quarter was nearing its end. Oxy closed the quarter with strong defense and solid offensive play to take a 50-39 lead into the 4th quarter. 

Westminster would once again respond quickly by scoring the first 6 points of the 4th quarter before Toni Thompson stopped the run by scoring a driving layup. Thompson began to take over offensively in the 4th, scoring the Tiger's first 7 points of the quarter. 

Ainsley Shelsta would make a layup that extended the Tiger lead back up to 11 points and Dara Tokeshi later made a layup late in the quarter that would help secure the victory for Oxy. Westminster was able to get the lead down to 6 but time was not on their side as only a minute and a half remained in the game. 

Thompson sealed the game with an and-1 on the next Oxy possession that forced the Blue Jays to foul to send Oxy to the line for the remainder of the game. The Tigers would get the victory by a score of 67-59 for their 8th win of the season. 

Oxy will be in action again on Saturday morning at 11:00am in Las Vegas against the Rhodes College Lynx.