Rocklin, CA- On Thursday, Arizona Christian Women's Basketball ended their six game slide by beating William Jessup 64-52.  Freshman Courtney Christmas finished as the game's leading scorer with 20 points.

In maybe the most entertaining quarter of the season, the Firestorm (10-11, 2-6 GSAC) and the Warriors (13-7, 4-5 GSAC) used nearly every made basket to create a lead change.  In all there were 11 lead changes in the first 10 minutes of play.

Freshman Moana Hala'ufia opened the scoring before William Jessup used a three pointer to grab their first lead.  Christmas nailed a three pointer but WJU answered with another three with both shots creating lead changes.  The first five made shots for the Warriors were from the three point line.  But ACU used three shots of their own from behind the arc to keep pace.

A layup from Senior Madison Austin gave the Firestorm an 18-15 edge with 2:44 remaining in the quarter.  However, WJU scored the final seven points of the quarter to hold a 22-18 lead after one quarter.

But the final lead change of the game went in favor of Arizona Christian as they opened the second quarter with an 11-0 run.  Senior Alyssa Gruber converted a jumper to move ACU ahead 23-22 with 7:51 showing on the clock before the half.  The Firestorm stayed in front for the remainder of the game thanks in large part to holding the Warriors to just three points in the second quarter.

At the half, Christmas had already reached 13 points.

Just over half through the third quarter, Austin gave Arizona Christian their first double digit lead of the evening.  The ACU lead would not get any closer than five but grew as large as 12 which came in the closing seconds of the game to account for the final differential.

All seven Firestorm that played contributed points on the board.  Austin concluded with 18 points after just three in the first half.  Gruber matched the number on her jersey as she contributed 12 points.

For the Warriors, Rona Chavez scored 14 points off the bench.

Head Coach Odell Berry commented, "William Jessup is one of the top rebounding teams in the country.  Tonight our women stepped up to the challenge and rebounded with them board for board (39-39).  We also really took care of the ball in the second half with only three turn-overs.  I felt like our seniors were big tonight.  They scored, they rebounded, and they made very good decisions.  We knew it was an important game for us to get back in the win column and the Firestorm ladies took care business tonight.  Now it's on to Menlo on Saturday afternoon."

As Coach Berry mentioned, the Firestorm will continue their Northern California road trip with a stop at Menlo in Atherton on Saturday.  Tip-off between the Oaks and the Firestorm will come at 2:00 pm (AT)/ 1:00 pm (PT).  William Jessup will host Hope International on Saturday at 5:30 pm (PT).