EUGENE, Ore. – The NAIA's top-ranked Westmont College paid a visit to the Morse Center on Thursday night to open the Bushnell women's basketball season and walked out with a 74-51 victory.
 
The Warriors (2-0) shot 49% from the field, pulled away in the second quarter and never looked back.
 
Head Coach Chad Meadors said, "We played a really good team tonight. We could have played a lot of teams and not learned the lessons we were able to learn tonight. I love how we competed and I credit Westmont for how they attacked the glass and how their really good guards played. We are used to being the aggressor but in the second quarter they did that to us and we weren't able to recover."
 
The Beacons (0-1), who end a ten-game winning streak with the defeat, shot 36% from the field and were out-rebounded 39-26. Both teams had 22 turnovers in the game. Morgan McKinney scored eleven points in the fourth quarter and finished with a game-high 21. Aspen Slifka (pictured) added 20 points, hitting three three-pointers while also grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Westmont was led by reigning NAIA Player of the Year Stefanie Berberabe who scored 20 points eight eight assists and five steals. Iyree Jarrett added 18 points and seven steals and Gabriella Stoll came off the bench for a double-double, scoring 17 points and 15 rebounds including seven offensive boards.
 
Bushnell will continue their preseason on the road next week, traveling to face Montana Tech  on Wednesday and No. 7 Carroll College on Thursday.
 
"This game is a stepping stone for us and everything is going to work itself out," said Meadors. "Our players are going to settle in and we are looking forward to getting back at it and hitting the road for Montana."