Atherton, Calif. - The Lady Firestorm were operating like a well-oiled machine through the first half, but ran out of gas and ultimately fell 75-64 to the #1-seed Vanguard in the GSAC Women's Basketball Semifinals at Menlo College. ACU outscored the Lions by six in the second quarter to grab a one-point lead (41-40) but poor shooting late (8-of-31 second half) saw the Firestorm playing catch-up for the final 15 minutes. 

Kayla Clark matched her season high of 12 points in the contest, shooting an efficient 3-of-4 from the field while dishing out three assists and only coughing up the ball once. Graciela Roybal added 12 points of her own, nailing all four of her three-pointers in the first half.

The Firestorm's leading rebounder Emily Till had 10 points and seven boards, notching her 14th game scoring double digit points. Lauren Gunn and Halle Payne made significant contributions, combining for 17 points and seven assists.

All-GSAC selection Alyssa Alvarez was uncharacteristically cold offensively, off-target on her first nine shot attempts before converting a three-ball in the fourth quarter. She was, however, very active on the glass (six rebounds) and as a facilitator (four assists).

ACU assisted on 17 of 22 made-baskets but lost the rebound battle 42-32 (margin decided in the second half). The Lions have now won the last five meetings in this series.

GAME INFO

Score: Arizona Christian 64 | #8 Vanguard 75
Records: ACU 18-12 (7-7 GSAC) | #8 VU 20-4 (12-2 GSAC)
Location: Haynes-Prim Pavilion - Atherton, CA

STAT TRACKER

Kayla Clark - 12 pts, 5 rebs, 3 ast
Graciela Roybal - 12 pts, 1 stl
Emily Till - 10 pts, 7 rebs, 1 ast
Lauren Gunn - 9 pts, 4 ast, 2 stl
Halle Payne - 8 pts, 4 rebs, 3 ast
Alyssa Alvarez - 6 pts, 6 rebs, 4 ast

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Vanguard came out of the gates hot, building a 9-3 lead and hitting their first four shot attempts. Roybal settled the Firestorm into the game with three three-pointers in the first quarter, the third making the deficit 23-16 with 1:58 on the clock. Senior Raegen Henry nailed her first three-pointer of the season (assisted by Gunn) to close the quarter and the gap to five (26-21, VU). Each team registered five threes, with ACU going 5-of-6.

Clark had the hot hand in the second, leading the Firestorm's effort with nine points (2-of-2 shooting, 4-of-4 free-throw). Four of Clark's nine came in the opening 1:35, a bucket from Taylor Teeple accompanying to trim the deficit to one (28-27). The Lion's Jaryn Madsen lifted the advantage to six with the team's sixth three of the game. However, ACU went on their most efficient scoring run of the game with five straight field goals. A nice find by Alvarez saw Roybal hit her fourth three and suddenly the Firestorm had a nose in front at halftime (41-40).

Melissa Akullu, GSAC Player of the Year, and Till traded baskets to kick off the second half. Teeple received a dime from Clark and converted her second basket with 6:27 remaining in the third to retain a one-point lead. Four straight Firestorm misses allowed the Lions to surge to a 50-45 edge. Two threes by Gunn and a Payne basket (assisted by Gunn) kept ACU in striking distance but the deficit was now seven (60-53) as VU's Alexa Silva drained three three-pointers in the closing four minutes.

Alvarez finally made her first field goal of the game, a three with 8:37 remaining. A Gunn layup on the proceeding possession made it 62-60 and anyone's ball game. However, the Firestorm went cold and missed their next seven shots to fall behind nine with 2:06 left. ACU could not manage much in "desperation time" and ultimately ran out of gas in the end.

THOUGHTS FROM COACH RUSTY ROGERS

"Our ladies played really, really tough against truly one of the best NAIA teams in the country," Coach Rogers said. "I couldn't be more proud of our squad. We played very unselfish basketball which is reflected in the assist-to-basket ratio and had less than 24 hours rest after the hard-fought win over Jessup… We shot lights out in the first half and went ice cold in the second. Hopefully, we've done enough to get an at-large bid to the NAIA national tournament. I believe we've earned it, especially considering the strength of our schedule!"

NEXT UP FOR THE FIRESTORM

The Lady Firestorm will have to wait till Thursday, March 7 at 5:00 PM MST to find out if their season continues following this GSAC Semifinals loss to #1-seed Vanguard. The final 64-team field of the 2024 NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship will be announced at this time on the NAIA YouTube Channel.

Roll Storm!