DENVER, Colo. – With the 2023-2024 season coming down to its final two weeks of conference play, the Regis University women's basketball team took on the Westminster University Griffins on Saturday, handling them without issue en route to a 61-50 win.
The Rangers (18-5 overall, 13-4 RMAC) got off to a slow start, but were able to turn it around in the second half and kept the Griffins (3-22 overall, 1-16 RMAC) to a 26.5% (9-for-34) shooting percentage through the second half.
"It was a gritty win. I think any time in mid-February and your bodies aren't feeling as great as they did in November, you're going to be battling through some of those things," said Regis women's basketball head coach, Molly Marrin. "I thought we showed a lot of toughness battling through our bodies being sore after last night."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Rangers received offensive contributions from almost every member off the bench, led by senior guard Madison Diercks who flirted with a double-double, finishing the night with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Not only was Diercks productive off the bench, fifth-year Sydney Speights was a key contributor on Saturday, scoring four points while adding two rebounds, an assist, and a blocked shot in her 20 minutes.
"The two I highlighted in the locker room were Speights and Madison, they brought what we needed both defensively and offensively," said Marrin. "Speights had a great presence in the paint and just played very solid and smart while Madison just brought that energy with her rebounding. It was something we needed to provide that spark coming off the bench."
Defensively, Regis proved to be a problem at the glass as they outrebounded Westminster, 44-42. But the biggest impact came in the turnovers column, Regis only committed six while their opponents gave up 15.
In the first half, the Rangers grabbed 21 rebounds, eight of which were offensive. By the final buzzer, Regis added 23 more rebounds, and 12 of those 23 were offensive.
Those 20 total offensive boards helped the Rangers stay ahead of the Griffins as they were able to convert their 20 total offensive rebounds into 14 second chance points to Westminster's 11.
"On the defensive end, we didn't have the energy–I call it 'the juice'-- that we needed in the first half," Marrin said. "We found it in the second half and we found those rotations and had a group in there that was rotating well, talking well, and made a noticeable difference as we were rotating as a unit. As for the rebounding component, we had a stint in there where we weren't finding bodies and we were giving up too many o-boards on that.I think that was just trusting our rotations, getting to the right spots, doing things within our defensive system. I think once we did that, we started to find more success and capitalize on some of those turnovers."
Joining Diercks in offensive contributions was junior guard Athena Saragoza and La Vista-native, Josey Ryan. Saragoza finished with 11 points on the night while Ryan led all Rangers in scoring with 12 points.
GAME NOTES
- Regis' four blocks ties the season record
- Morgan L. Smith led all Rangers in blocks with two
- The Rangers capitalized on turnovers, outscoring Westminster 23-2
UP NEXT
The Rangers will travel to South Dakota to take on the South Dakota School of Mines Hardrockers on Friday. Tipoff is set for 4:30 PM.
"We know how big every game is. We've got five games left," said Marrin. "The road trip to South Dakota is a huge one and starting the weekend with South Dakota Mines is going to require us to come in hungry, disciplined, and having the toughness to win the weekend."
