Feb. 5, 2004

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Briefly The Lions enter the second half of West Coast Conference play with a program-best 6-1 conference record. Their six-game WCC streak is also a school record. After playing five of the first seven WCC contests on the road, LMU will enjoy home court advantage in the second half of WCC play, as five of the seven remaining conference games will be played in Gersten Pavilion where the Lions are 7-1 on the season.

Among the Nation's Best Seniors Kate Murray and Adrianne Slaughter rank among the nation's best in this week's NCAA statistical rankings. Murray ranks ninth in the nation in free throw percentage, shooting 89.0 percent from the charity stripe this season. Slaughter's 2.1 blocks per game are good for the 41st ranking in the nation.

Hot WCC Streak After defeating Portland (58-50), San Diego (63-52), Santa Clara (69-52), Pepperdine (60-54), Saint Mary's (46-43) and San Francisco (74-58) by an average of over ten points, the Lions are on a six-game WCC winning streak. The streak equals a new program record for the Lions, who defeated four WCC teams in a row twice during the 2000-01 season. In 2001, LMU took care of Saint Mary's (73-68), San Francisco (76-70, Portland (66-65), and Gonzaga (62-58) in consecutive games. After dropping a six point game to Santa Clara next, the Lions turned it around for a second four game streak, dropping San Diego (64-42), Gonzaga (60-37), Portland (70-52), and San Francisco (74-51).

Up Next: Gonzaga (13-7, 6-1 WCC) The Lions and Bulldogs remain tied at the top of the WCC with 6-1 records and will play Thursday for the outright lead of the conference standings. The all-time series between the two programs is also tied, as LMU and Gonzaga have each won 17 contests. The Zags extended their win streak in The Kennel to nine games, as they defeated Santa Clara and San Diego last weekend. Against the Broncos, Gonzaga was led by junior Shannon Mathews with a career-tying 27 points, followed by sophomore Ashley Anderson with a career-high 20 points and junior Ashley Burke with 19 points. Against the Toreros, Burke led the scoring with 15 points, while junior Raeanna Jewell scored 13 and Mathews notched 12. Both games included come-from-behind victories as Gonzaga was down by as many as 12 points in both games.

LMU Concludes First Half of WCC Play With Program-Best 6-1 Record LMU concluded the first half of WCC action with the best conference record in program history, as the Lions defeated San Francisco 74-58 Saturday evening in War Memorial Gym. In a milestone night for Kate Murray, the senior equaled a career-high 28 points as the Lions moved to 15-5 overall and 6-1 in WCC play. It was a defensive beginning from the beginning, as LMU took a 3-2 lead on Murray's first three-pointer two minutes into the game. Two minutes later, both teams had combined for just one field goal more, and the Dons led 4-2 coming out of the first official timeout. LMU's defense forced a turnover, and the Lions took advantage of it, scoring two on an Adrianne Slaughter layup with 13:26 left in the first. The Lions then took off on a 14-2 run, holding the Dons without a field goal for over eight minutes. LMU's bench accounted for eight of those points, as Jacquelyn Woods, Rachael Ziemann, and Jasmin Matthews each scored for the Lions. Murray led all scorers at the half, contributing nine for LMU. The senior also became just the fourth Lion to score 1,000 career points and tally 300 assists, as Murray reached the assist milestone during the first half. The Lions left for the locker room leading 31-22. LMU began the second half on a 12-6 run, as the Lions' starters picked up where the bench left off. In the first ten minutes of the second half, Slaughter scored ten points and brought down rebounds that provided key second chances for the Lions. After Murray, the sixth-best free throw shooter in the nation, hit four straight free throws, the Lions maintained a 57-47 lead with seven minutes left to play. The Dons challenged the Lions with just under six minutes remaining, when Toni Russell hit a three-pointer to bring USF within five. But Murray matched it on the Lions' next possession, as Head Coach Julie Wilhoit took a thirty-second timeout with an eight point lead. LMU continued for an 8-0 run, as Slaughter scored a layup off an offensive rebound and Murray connected for her third three pointer of the night. USF's Russell scored a quick layup at the other end, but Murray once again made the Dons pay, hitting her third three-pointer in less than three minutes of play for the 68-54 LMU lead. Slaughter and Murray led the Lions in the end, combining for 35 points in the second half of play. LMU's bench, including freshman Amanda Patton who returned after missing 11 games due to a lower left leg stress fracture, held the Dons (8-12, 1-6 WCC), and the Lions took the 74-58 victory. In addition to Murray's 28 points, the December WCC Player of the Month added a career-high 14 rebounds. She was two assists away from a statistical triple-double. LMU shot 51.8 percent from the field on the game, the best shooting night for the Lions since the win over UNLV on December 15, 2003. The win was a homecoming celebration for Assistant Coach Tami Adkins, who had a successful playing career at USF in the 1990s.

Murray Earns Second Straight WCC Player of the Month Selection Loyola Marymount's Kate Murray was selected as the WCC's Player of the Month for the second straight month, the conference announced today. The senior, who is also the reigning WCC Player of the Week, becomes the only player in the last four seasons of WCC women's basketball to earn the Player of the Month nod twice in the same season. In LMU's eight games in 2004, Murray tallied 135 points, 64 rebounds, 28 assists, 16 steals, and six blocks. Posting double-double numbers in three of the eight contests, Murray scored at least 12 points every game in January. The senior ends the month ranking second in the WCC in scoring (1st in WCC play), first in free throw and three point field goal percentage, and second in defensive rebounds.Playing at Denver's Pepsi Center on Saturday, January 3, the senior gave the Lions their first double-double of the season, tallying 13 points, 10 rebounds, two steals, and one assist against Colorado State. Murray totaled 54 points, 25 rebounds, 13 assists, and 8 steals during the week of January 11-17, as LMU was the only WCC team to win three conference games. Against San Diego, the senior went 4-for-8 from the field, was 2-for-4 from behind the three point arc, and hit a perfect 9-of-9 free throws. She also tallied five steals, a season-high for the guard/forward. In the match-up with Santa Clara, Murray put up double-double numbers for the second time this season, scoring 20 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.Murray then tallied 44 points, 18 rebounds, 11 assists, 5 steals, and 4 blocks as the Lions remained atop the WCC standings by defeating USF and SMC on the road. Murray led the Lions to their best first half of WCC play ever, with a 6-1 record and a program-best six game WCC winning streak. Against Saint Mary's, the senior scored a game-high 16 points, and hit her 500th career field goal five minutes into the game. Later, up by one with 46 seconds remaining in the game, the Lions turned to Murray, who sank a jump shot to give the Lions the three point lead. On the defensive end with the Gaels looking for a three-pointer for the tie, Murray picked up a steal and was fouled.Saturday at San Francisco, the guard/forward equaled a career-high 28 points, grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds, and missed a triple double by just two assists. During the first half, Murray recorded her 300th career assist, making her just the fourth Lion to tally both 1000 points and 300 assists in her career. The Tigard, Oregon, native received the conference's first Player of the Month honor for her play in December. This second straight selection makes her the first player in the last four years to repeat as Player of the Month in the same season.

Slaughter's Rebound Record With 10 rebounds against Saint Mary's, Adrianne Slaughter became LMU's top career rebounder. The senior passed Tricia Gibson's (1988-91) 765 rebound mark set in 1991, setting a new record after 13 years.

Murray Earns Second WCC Player of the Week Selection For the second time this season, Loyola Marymount's Kate Murray has been selected as the West Coast Conference's women's basketball Player of the Week, conference officials announced on Monday.The selection marks the second straight week a Lion has earned the honor. Murray totaled 44 points, 18 rebounds, 11 assists, 5 steals, and 4 blocks as the Lions remained atop the WCC standings by defeating Saint Mary's (46-43) and San Francisco (74-58) on the road. Murray led the Lions to their best first half of WCC play ever, with a 6-1 record and a program-best six game WCC winning streak. Against Saint Mary's, the senior scored a game-high 16 points, hitting her 500th career field goal five minutes into the game. Later, up by one with 46 seconds remaining in the game, the Lions turned to Murray, who sank a jump shot to give the Lions the three point lead. On the defensive end with the Gaels looking for a three-pointer for the tie, Murray picked up a steal and was fouled. Saturday at San Francisco, the guard/forward equaled a career-high 28 points, grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds, and missed a triple double by just two assists. During the first half, Murray recorded her 300th career assist, making her just the fourth Lion to tally both 1000 points and 300 assists in her career. After Murray, the sixth-best free throw shooter in the nation, hit four straight free throws in the second half, the Lions maintained a 57-47 lead with seven minutes left to play. The Dons challenged the Lions with just under six minutes remaining, when a three-pointer brought USF within five. But Murray matched it on the Lions' next possession. LMU continued for an 8-0 run, led by another Murray three pointer. USF scored a quick layup at the other end, but Murray once again made the Dons pay, hitting her third three-pointer in less than three minutes of play for the 68-54 LMU lead. Murray and fellow senior Adrianne Slaughter led the Lions in the end, combining for 35 points in the second half of play. The Tigard, Oregon, native was also honored as the conference's December Player of the Month and Player of the Week for the week of December 15th.

At Her Best Against The Best Adrianne Slaughter holds the conference season-best mark for blocks per game, tallying five blocks in a December home game. Her five blocks came against the now-No. 1 ranked team in the country, Duke.

Slaughter Named WCC Player of Week for Second Time This Season Slaughter was selected as the WCC's Player of the Week, the conference announced on January 26. The accolade marks the second player of the week selection for the center this season. Slaughter played her strongest game of the season when the Lions needed it most, leading LMU (13-5, 4-1 WCC) to a win over crosstown rival Pepperdine to remain atop the WCC standings. Slaughter scored eight straight points in a four minute span for a season-high 19 points and eight rebounds in the 60-54 victory. The WCC block leader increased her lead in the category, blocking four shots on the game and adding three assists. The senior's play has brought the Lions to a four game winning streak, equaling LMU's best conference streak since the Lions won five straight WCC contests in 1989. With her 19 points against the Waves, Slaughter climbed to seventh on LMU's all-time career points listing, passing Tricia Gibson (1988-1991) with 1095 career points. Slaughter also ranks second all-time at LMU in both rebounds and blocked shots, trailing Gibson in both categories. With just three rebounds, she will become the leading rebounder in LMU history, passing Gibson's 765 rebound mark that has been the LMU record since 1991.

WCC Block Party Following the match-up with Santa Clara, Slaughter took over the fourth place ranking on the WCC's all-time block leaders, making her the fourth-leading shot blocker in the history of the WCC. With 214 career blocks, Slaughter passed Santa Clara's Annie Garrison's 207 blocks for the fourth spot. If Slaughter averages just under two blocks per game for the rest of the season, she could take over the third place spot by reaching 228 career blocks. She would then still trail one Lion, Tricia Gibson (1998-92), who tallied 280 blocks in her LMU career.

No Place Like Home With wins over San Diego and Santa Clara, the Lions moved their current home record to 7-1. Since 2000, the Lions have gone an impressive 37-10 at home in Gersten Pavilion.

Getting Noticed The Lions' strong non-conference record did not go unnoticed. LMU received votes in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. The December 15 poll was the first national recognition for the Lions this season.

Murray and Ziemann Selected to Marriott Beach Classic All-Tournament Team The Lions' Kate Murray and Bianca Ziemann were selected to the 2003 Marina del Rey Marriott Beach Classic All-Tournament team for their effort against Northwestern and No. 4 Duke. Murray and Ziemann led the Lions to their second tournament championship game of the season. Murray scored 27 points on the weekend, including a 3-for-6 three-point effort. Ziemann, the reigning WCC Player of the Week, totaled 29 points. The Huntington Beach, Calif., native put on a three-point show against Northwestern, hitting four of six three-point attempts en route to the 63-45 LMU win. It was the second all-tournament team for Ziemann, who also received the honor at the Furama Thanksgiving Classic.

Ziemann Receives WCC Player of the Week Honors Bianca Ziemann was named the WCC Women's Basketball Player of the Week as announced by the conference office on Dec. 29. Ziemann led the Lions to a 63-45 win over Northwestern on Day one of the LMU Marina del Rey Marriott Beach Classic. The win marked LMU's sixth straight home win dating back to last season, and the Lions remained a perfect 5-0 in Gersten Pavilion. Ziemann finished the night against the Wildcats tied for the game's leading scorer with 16 points. She shot 5-of-8 from the floor, 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and 2-for-3 from the free-throw line. The four three-pointers set a new career game-high for Ziemann who also collected five rebounds, two assists and two steals. The honor marked the third time in December a Lion was selected as the WCC women's basketball player of the week.

Win Streak Set Victories over Cal Poly (67-66), UNLV (76-64), and IUPUI (66-63) improved the Lions' win streak to eight straight after dropping its season opening game at NC State. The eight wins gave LMU its longest winning streak in program history. The old mark of six consecutive wins, was reached twice since the programs inception (1988-89 and 2000-01).

Lions' Audio Network This 2003-04 season, check out the LMU women's basketball team on the Lions' Audio Network. Thanks to an agreement with Yahoo! Sports, more than 110 LMU games will be aired live via the Internet throughout this season. Every women's basketball game will be broadcast over the internet on LMULions.com thanks to the Yahoo! Sports agreement. Adding to the quality of the broadcast, Yahoo! Sports will bring its state-of-the-art technology to the Lions' Audio Network. To ensure the best product for our listeners, the Yahoo! Sports partnership is a subscription-based program. Live programming is a hallmark of every major athletics program in the country and LMU's commitment is an example to our student-athletes and fans of our continuing efforts to Build Champions!

The Wilhoit File Head Coach Julie Wilhoit, a two-time WCC Coach of the Year recipient, enters her eighth season at the helm of the women's basketball program at LMU. She led the Lions to back-to-back winning seasons in 2000 and 2001 while entering the season with an impressive 30-9 record in Gersten Pavilion since 2000. Under her direction, LMU set new school records for single-season overall wins (21) and single-season conference wins (10) in 2000-01. She led the Lions to a 21-10 overall record, a 10-4 mark in conference play, to within a game of LMU's first ever regular-season conference championship, to their first appearance in the WCC tournament championship game and to their first ever postseason game that year. She was the first LMU women's basketball coach to earn the top coaching nod in 1999-00, the first to have earned it in consecutive seasons at LMU and only the second coach in WCC history to garner the award in two straight years. 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 entered the 2003-04 season holding a 91-134 (.431) overall record and 42-83 (.336) record in West Coast Conference play. Wilhoit began her 16th year as a head coach owning a 212-204 (.517) overall record.

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