SAN DIEGO, Calif. (March 2, 2001) - The Lions are in the finals. It is the first time this can be said for the Loyola Marymount University women’s basketball team. It has been a record season for the Lions and it will continue into the West Coast Conference Tournament finals.

The Lions (21-8) went onto an inspirational 73-56 win over the University of San Francisco (13-16) in the semis of the 2001 WCC Tournament on Friday night, setting up a rematch with Saint Mary’s College in the finals on Sunday at Jenny Craig Pavilion at 2 p.m.

“It was a pure emotion-driven victory tonight,” said Head Coach Julie Wilhoit. “Our team played so well tonight and did all the little things in the end that a championship team will do to win.”

LMU, who on Thursday reached their first ever 20-win season and first ever victory in the WCC Tournament, went a step further with four players scoring in double figures to reach the championship. In addition, two Lions earned a double-double in the team’s third consecutive victory against the Dons and their 10th win in their last 12 contests.

Junior first-team All-WCC selection Bryn Britton had her third career double-double performance with 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Lions outrebounded USF 44-31. Jasmin Mattthews had a career night, netting career highs in points with 15 and rebounds with 11. It was her first career double-double. Six of her rebounds were offensive, as the Lions finished with 17 offensive boards.

“We scored when we needed to and hit very critical free throws down the stretch,” said Wilhoit. “Every night we have had somebody stepping up for this team. Bryn has been consistently doing it, but tonight Jasmin (Matthews) showed why she should get the ‘unrecognized recruit of the year’ award.”

Taryn Reynolds, who is suffering with a plantar fascia bruise in her right foot, finished with 19 points and two rebounds. She was 11-for-13 from the free throw line leading the Lions to a 22-for-29 (75.9) performance from the line. The fourth Lion in double-digits was Adrianne Slaughter with 11.

The Lions held a slim 29-25 lead at halftime, but held a seven-point lead at 21-14 with 7:10 remaining before USF closed the gap with an 11-8 run. However, Britton would score 11 of her 16 and Reynolds all of her 19 in the second half to jump out to a double-digit lead with 10:30 remaining. The Dons would cut the lead to nine with 1:23 remaining. Six consecutive free throws by the Lions finished off USF.

LMU will enter the final game of the WCC tournament against regular-season co-champion Gaels with only six scholarship players and two walk-ons due to injuries to starters throughout the season.

“The last four weeks four our team has been about overcoming obstacles,” said Wilhoit, who lost her third and latest starter for the season four weeks ago due to a broken hand. “The injuries have given the team the opportunity to allow somebody to step up. The nice thing is, someone different has each and every week.”

Saint Mary’s and LMU split their two games earlier in the season, with the Lions winning in Gersten on Jan. 26, 73-69. A week ago, the Gaels won share of the regular-season title with Santa Clara with a 78-69 win in Moraga on Feb. 24.