Up Next...The Loyola Marymount women's basketball team heads to San Diego, Calif. for the 2000-01 West Coast Conference women's basketball Tournament. LMU drew the No. 3 seed in the tournament and will face the No. 6 seed San Diego in the final game on day 1.

Wilhoit Named WCC Coach Of The Year...Head Coach Julie Wilhoit captured the WCC Coach of the Year Award for the second straight season. Wilhoit, who is in her sixth season at the helm of the women's basketball program at LMU, led the Lions to a record breaking season. Under her direction, LMU set new school records for single-season overall wins (19) and single-season conference wins (10). She led the Lions to a 19-8 overall finish, a 10-4 mark in conference play and to within a game of LMU's first ever conference championship. The Lions head into the WCC tournament in third place, their best finish since the 1989-90 season, and as the No. 3 seed, their highest draw since the tournament began. She was the first LMU women's basketball coach to earn the top coaching nod last year and is now the first to have earned in consecutive seasons. She was named the fourth head coach in the program's history on June 30, 1995. Wilhoit came to LMU after a two-year stint at the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford. With the Lions, she holds a 60-104 (.366) overall record and 27-63 (.300) record in West Coast Conference play. Wilhoit is in her 13th year as a head coach and owns a 181-174 (.510) overall record.

Three Lions Earn All-Conference Honors...Senior guard Taryn Reynolds and junior guard Bryn Britton brought home All-WCC first team honors while sophomore forward Kate Murray was named All-WCC honorable mention. Reynolds, a 5-7 native of Los Angeles, Calif., brought home her first ever first-team award and did it convincingly as she earned the award by a unanimous decision. The senior has been LMU's pillar of leadership in her final season averaging a solid 12.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists for the season. She reached a milestone in her career earlier this season by being the eighth women's basketball player in school history to reach the 1,000 point plateau. Britton, who stands at 5-11 and hails from Porterville, Calif., earned her second straight first-team award. She leads the Lions in scoring and assists averaging 14.7 points and 4.0 assists per game. Britton has helped LMU's rebounding efforts as well, her 5.6 rebounds per game is second on the team. Like Reynolds, she also reached the 1,000 point milestone earlier this season. Britton was the seventh women's basketball player in school history to achieve the feat. Murray, a 6-0 native of Tigard, Oreg., collects her first career all-conference award. Her consistent play has been key to LMU's success this season. She is averaging a steady 13.7 points per game, second on the team, has recorded three double-doubles and has scored in double-digit point figures in 24 of the 27 games this season.

Murray Named WCC Player Of The Week...Sophomore forward Kate Murray was named the WCC Player of the Week for her efforts in LMU's final regular season games. Murray averaged 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game as the Lions split their last WCC games on the road to post their best conference finish ever. In Friday's win at San Francisco Murray played all 40 minutes and led the Lions with 18 points on 62.5% shooting and matched her career-high with six assists. She also added three steals, five rebounds and an 8-for-8 showing at the free-throw line. The very next night she came back to play all 40 minutes again at Saint Mary's and bettered her scoring output with 22 points on 52.6% shooting. She also had five rebounds, three assists and one steal.

Slaughter Throws Block Party-All Invited...Freshman center Adrianne Slaughter has been a thorn in the side of her opponents as she stepped up to lead the team and the conference with her 1.74 blocks per game. That total has also vaulted her into the national spotlight as she is currently ranked No. 21 in the country in blocked shots. The young cub is one of only three freshman in the national leader board and has definitely strengthened her case for conference rookie of the year.

Protecting The Lions' Den...The Lions were very protective of their home court this season as they posted an 11-2 mark while playing at Gersten Pavilion. The Lions recently swept their final home games of the 2000-01 season defeating Gonzaga (60-37) and Portland (70-52). It has been almost 10 years since LMU posted 11 home wins. The 1992-93 Lions were the last team to post an 11-2 record at home, a mark which is the second best home record in program history. The most home wins ever recorded by a Lion team was 12 accomplished by the 1989-90 team.

A Record Breaking Season...The Lions set a program record for single-season wins with their 18th win of the season coming at home against Portland (Feb. 17, 70-52). LMU extended that mark and nearly hit the 20 win plateau last weekend. The Lions win against San Francisco (Feb. 23, 74-71) gave them their 19th win of the year and set a new single-season conference wins record as they posted their 10th conference win of the season. The 1988-89 team previously held both records, going 17-11 overall and 9-5 in conference that year. Currently at 19-8 with the conference tournament remaining, LMU has a chance at its first ever 20 win season.

Bomb's Away...First-Team All-WCC junior guard Bryn Britton kept LMU in the game with a 24-point performance against Saint Mary's last Saturday night. Britton, who had a rough first half (0-for-3), entered the break uncharacteristically without scoring a single point. The second half would be a different story though as she busted out with a 9-for-14 effort from the floor and connected on 6-of-9 from long distance. Britton is currently averaging 14.7 points per game which leads the team and ranks third in the WCC.

First Round Foes Meet Again...For the second consecutive year, LMU and USD face off in round one of the WCC tournament. The Lions, who were bounced from the tournament in round 1 last year (72-75), were left with a bitter taste in their mouths. This year, LMU's collective mouths are watering as it gets a chance to avenge the loss from a year ago and this time be the bouncers instead of the bouncees. In theory, things seem to bode well for the Lions as they been victorious in both meetings with the Toreros this season. LMU defeated USD (74-70) at the Jenny Craig Pavilion to start conference play and then won again convincingly (64-42) at Gersten Pavilion.

Britton And Reynolds Reach 1,000 Career Points...Senior guard Taryn Reynolds and junior guard Bryn Britton have both hit milestones in their careers this season by reaching the 1,000 point plateau. Reynolds, a 5-7 native of Los Angeles, Calif., went over the 1,000 point mark with the 10 points she picked up in Portland (Feb. 1). Reynolds' career points total now stands at 1,052 and ranks 6th on the all-time LMU charts. Britton, a 5-11 junior from Porterville, Calif., hit her 1,000th career point earlier this season with the 10 points she dropped at Pepperdine (Jan. 20). Britton currently has 1,139 career points, a mark which is 4th in the LMU career record book. Both athletes were honored by the West Coast Conference as Players of the Week this season. Reynolds earned the award the week of Jan. 22 and began an LMU trend of snagging the award. Britton continued the trend garnering the award in the following week (Jan. 29).

Injury Report...The Lions are beginning to look like a M*A*S*H unit. Freshman Raelen Self is LMU's third casualty of the season. She will sit out the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a break in her right hand. She joins sophomore center Shannon Wosman and junior guard Rosa Bernasconi who are also sidelined the rest of the season. Both will sit out the remainder of the year due to ACL injuries suffered earlier this season. The Lions lost Wosman during the game at Santa Clara (Jan. 13) and then lost Bernasconi just six days later at Pepperdine (Jan. 20). They will undergo surgery as soon as possible and with rehab both look to be back in full force next year.

Best WCC Finish In 10 Years...The Lions, 10-4 in conference play, finished the regular season in third place, their best finish in 10 years. The 1989-90 season was the last time the Lions finished among the upper tier conference teams. That year, under the direction of then-head coach Todd Corman, LMU posted a 7-7 WCC record and finished tied for third in the conference with San Diego. With a record breaking 10 conference wins and an RPI rating which ranks No. 38 in the country LMU is venturing in unchartered waters as it not only looks to the WCC tournament but beyond that as well.

Recapping San Francisco...The Loyola Marymount women's basketball team came one step closer to claiming its first ever conference championship with a 74-71 win over San Francisco last Friday night in front of 812 at War Memorial Gym in San Francisco, Calif. With the victory the Lions set a new a school record for single season conference wins and improved the record for single season overall wins. Sophomore forward Kate Murray led LMU with 18 points on the night. The Lions trailed the Dons at the half 30-33 on just 12-of-23 shooting from the floor. LMU came back in the second half though using a 17-of-20 effort (85%) from the free-throw line to take the lead. The Lions also used the long ball to help their cause draining 3-of-4 (75%) from beyond the arc. LMU's Murray not only led the Lions in scoring but she dished out a game and career-high 6 assists as well. She also pulled down 5 rebounds and picked up 3 steals. Junior guard Bryn Britton followed Murray's lead as she put up 17 points and 4 rebounds. Senior guard Taryn Reynolds was LMU's other top scorer as she dropped 16 points, grabbed 4 boards, picked up 3 assists and 1 steal. Freshman forward Michele Brown was LMU's leading rebounder as she tied her career-high of 6 rebounds

Recapping Saint Mary's...The Loyola Marymount women's basketball team dropped a heartbreaking 69-78 loss to Saint Mary's in front of 3,016 at McKeon Pavilion on Saturday night. The Lions, who were playing for the West Coast Conference championship, finish the regular season with a record breaking 19 overall wins (19-8) and 10 conference wins (10-4). Junior guard Bryn Britton led LMU with 24 points, all of which came in the second half. The Lions went into the half tied at 30-30 with the Gaels (22-5 Overall/11-3 WCC). LMU sophomore forward Kate Murray led all scorers at the break with 18 points. Britton's 24 points came on 9-of-17 shooting from the field and a 6-of-9 effort from beyond the arc. The 5-11 native of Porterville, Calif also dished out 4 assists, picked up 3 rebounds and had 1 steal. Murray hit double-digit points for the 24th time this season. She finished second among Lions with 22 points while also adding in 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. Senior guard Taryn Reynolds ended the game with 11 points and nearly had a double-double pulling down 8 boards. Freshman guard Jasmin Matthews led LMU's rebounding effort as she tied her career-high with 10 boards.

Trackin' The Toreros...San Diego enters the WCC tournament as the No. 6 seed, finishing sixth in the conference with a 10-15 overall record and a 5-9 mark in WCC play. The Toreros are led by first-team All-WCC selection Amber Jansen. Jansen, a 6-1 junior forward from Syracuse, NY, is averaging 15.8 points (2nd in the WCC) and 7.2 rebounds (5th in the WCC) per game. Also highlighting the USD squad is sophomore guard Kerri Nakamoto. Nakamoto leads USD with 75 assists on the year and is second on the team with a 10.3 points per game average. The Lions won both previous meetings with the Toreros (74-70 at Jenny Craig Pavilion and 64-42 at Gersten Pavilion). San Diego still owns a 24-13 series advantage over LMU.