Phoenix, AZ- An off the mark first half of shooting was countered by Arizona Christian with a strong third quarter and free throw shooting as they knocked off William Jessup 63-55 on Saturday.  Nineteen points from Sophomore Jada Willingham and 12 rebounds by Junior Suzie Castro-Larsen led the way.

Castro-Larsen jump started the Firestorm (10-8, 4-3 GSAC) as she grabbed an offensive rebound turned jumper followed by another jumper to score the game's first four points as ACU opened with an 8-0 run.  Sophomore Makayla Enders scored the other four points.

But Arizona Christian would score just three more points in the first quarter as the Warriors (7-8, 1-5 GSAC) tied the score at 11 before the quarter ended.

In the second quarter, ACU scored four points in the first minute of quarter action.  They would add just six more points before the break.  WJU scored 15 in the quarter to take a 26-21 lead into the locker room.

Despite attempting 33 shots to WJU's 17 shots and winning the turnover battle 7-17 at the half, ACU trailed because they only converted eight shots and no threes to shoot 24.2%.  Castro-Larsen topped with five points- tied with two Warriors. 

Both teams made five free throws in opening half.

WJU made it 27-21 to start the third quarter but a 10-0 run surged ACU in front.

The Warriors answered to force a tied and brief lead change.  Trailing 50-49 with five minutes to play, Sophomore Courtney Christmas converted a pair of free throws for the 51-50 advantage.  ACU held the lead for the rest of the afternoon thanks to outscoring WJU 14-5 in the final five minutes.  The Firestorm converted 11 free throws during the run (Willingham knocked down a big three pointer as well).

With both teams making 12 field goals (including 3 three pointers each) in the second half, the difference in the contest was the Firestorm making 15-18 free throws versus 2-4 for the Warriors.  ACU accounted for 13 points off 12 WJU turnovers in the second half.

Joining Willingham in double figures was Christmas with 16 points and Enders with 11 points.  WJU's Ashlyn Jones doubled up with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

On Thursday, the Firestorm will round out their first half of GSAC play by traveling to San Diego Christian.  The game will be played at Grossmont College with tip-off set for 5:30 pm PT/ 6:30 pm AT.  The Warriors will next be in action on Tuesday when they host Menlo at 5:30 pm.