Davis gets welcome back gift

Vanguard coach has to wait a half before Lions pull away for a Golden State Athletic Conference rout of Hope International.COSTA MESA -- Vanguard University women’s basketball Coach Russ Davis returned to the sidelines for the first time after missing a handful of games after injuring his back falling off a rolling chair Jan. 3.

After his team had a rough first half, he thought he’d picked the wrong game for which to return. But the Lions quickly took control of the game in the second half and gave Davis an 86-46 welcome back victory over Hope International in Golden State Athletic Conference action Saturday night.

Hope International (10-8, 3-6 in conference) came out on fire and took a 13-7 lead on Malerie Rodrigues’ three-pointer. Vanguard came back by turning up the defensive intensity after two timeouts and hitting the offensive boards hard, but the Royals hung in and trailed by five points at halftime.

Vanguard (16-0, 9-0) shot just 21.4 % from the field in the first half, but outrebounded the Royals on the offensive glass, 10-2, to take a small lead at the half.

“I was about to go back home at halftime,” Davis said. “Sure, I get the game where we shoot 20% in the first half.”

Davis, who said he’s feeling a lot better, didn’t have to worry long. The Lions shot 63.6% in the second half, including a 22-7 run to open the half.

“We just needed to slow down mentally because the girls were so amped going into the game,” Davis said.

Sophomore guard Jessica Richter -- the team’s leading scorer at 23.1 points per game -- was held scoreless in the first half, partially because two quick fouls put her on the bench.

The Lions went right to Richter in the second half, when she scored all of her 14 points. She scored the Lions’ first eight points of the half, including a pair of three-pointers.

“We needed to get her going,” Davis said.

Richter and Kelly Schmidt (game-high 25 points) alone outscored the Royals, 29-21, in the second half. Rachel Besse finished with 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

“We just needed to come out and play more aggressively,” Richter said. “They were more aggressive than us in the first half.”

The Lions made it a 20-point lead with 12:28 left when junior point guard Tiari Goold fed Schmidt on a fast break. Schmidt made her layup despite getting fouled hard, and sunk her free throw to give the Lions a 52-32 lead.

The Royals never got closer than 18 points the rest of the way.

“We just wanted to match their intensity and then exceed it in the second half,” Richter said. “And we did that.”

Vanguard takes on Azusa Pacific (7-2 in conference) on Tuesday in a key conference game at Azusa Pacific.

Golden State Athletic Conference

Vanguard 86, Hope Intl. 46

Score by Halves