SMRC Women Best Belmont, 52-12

SMRC took off quickly, putting points on the scoreboard within 4 minutes of kickoff when wing Alex Walker burned the Belmont defense around the edge to notch the first 5 points. A good conversion by Jacki Bercovici put the ‘Phins up 7-0. Belmont answered quickly though when their flanker broke the defensive line, but they were unable to convert, allowing SM to keep the lead, 7-5.

Santa Monica bounced back, forcing turnovers and pushing Belmont back when they finally capitalized on the pressure and April Rodriguez touched it down in the corner (conversion not made, 12-5). Walker then continued her powerful running, notching two more tries to complete a hat trick before the end of the first half. Bercovici made both conversions, closing the half at 26-5.

In the second half, Santa Monica again dominated in the first 10 minutes. Captain Whitney Vance broke the Belmont defensive line in half and touched down her first try of the game (conversion good, 33-5). Belmont then used its big forwards to pound the ball up the pitch and were eventually rewarded with a try (conversion good, 33-12). A messy 15 minutes finally resulted with Santa Monica on top when the backline exhibited textbook offloading down half the pitch and Vance scoring her second try of the game (conversion good, 40-12). The ‘Phins 8-man Jacqueline Davisson made a statement herself in the last 15 minutes of the game, taking advantage of the tired defense and scoring two tries that she ran down for almost the entire length of the pitch. Bercovici made the first conversion and missed the second, putting the ‘Phins up 52-12 when the final whistle blew.

The Women’s final two games will be at home versus Las Vegas (4/18) and Tempe (4/25).