Glendale, AZ – The #14 Lady Firestorm defeated the Royals of Hope International in the opening round of the GSAC Women's Basketball Tournament to set up one more home game at the ACU Event Center on Monday March 3.  Seniors Graciela Roybal and Alyssa Alvarez led the team in scoring with 13 points and 12 points respectively.  Freshman Taylor Schwab came off the bench to score 11 points.  
 
It was a match up of the two best defensive teams in the GSAC, and it showed early on as the Royals struggled to handle the Firestorms full court pressure, and the Firestorm struggled to finish over the Royals outstretched hands at the basket.  Roybal and Kayla Clark were able to give a spark at the end of the first quarter, and Schwab scored six points in the second quarter to help the Firestorm achieve separation.  But it was still only 25-16 in favor of the Firestorm heading into the half.
 
The third and fourth periods saw both teams' offenses find more success, but the story was still the frenzied full court pressure of the Firestorm defense.  The team forced 20 turnovers, 14 of them steals, and the Royals were never able to get into any sort of offensive rhythm throughout the night.  Roybal contributed three steals as did Lauren Gunn, while freshmen Schwab and Mae Washington had two steals apiece.
 
Thoughts from Head Coach Rusty Rogers
"Very proud of the tremendous effort our team showed tonight. Flying all over the court defensively and matching Hope's physicality inside.  Hope is an outstanding team, and we were very fortunate to get this win and advance to the championship game."
 
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