Jan. 14, 2010

Angie Kiel's postgame interview with Renahy Young from Podcast Center.

Box Score

San Francisco, Calif. - Junior Renahy Young became the 11th member of the LMU 1,000-point club with 19 points to help the Lions to a 63-55 victory at San Francisco in a West Coast Conference game on Thursday night at War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco, Calif. Playing on Head Coach Julie Wilhoit's birthday, the Lions (8-8, 1-1 WCC) used a 19-5 run in the second half to record their first conference win of the year and send the Dons (4-16, 0-3 WCC) to their ninth consecutive defeat.

Sophomore Alex Cowling led all scorers with 22 points, chipping in five rebounds. Young added her 19, along with three assists, and sophomore Candice Nichols came off the bench for 10 points. Junior Melanie Ysaguirre led all players on the boards with nine rebounds, five offensive.

LMU shot 47.8% (11-for-23) from the floor in the second half to overcome a five-point halftime deficit and finish at 38.6% (22-for-57) overall, despite sinking just 3-of-17 (17.6%) from three-point range. The Lions went 16-for-23 (69.6%) at the line, including 8-for-9 over the final four minutes, to hold off the Dons. The Lions improve to 2-0 all-time on Wilhoit's birthday, having beaten Gonzaga on this day in 2006.

The day belonged to Young, however, who entered the game on 981 career points and finished exactly on the 1,000 point mark. She got halfway there in the first half with 10 points and passed the mark with a pair of free throws with 4:12 remaining. She reaches 1,000 points in just her 76th career game and becomes the first Lion since Adrianne Slaughter in 2003-04 to join the prestigious club. Next up is the LMU career scoring top-10, which she can enter with at least 11 points when LMU closes out its WCC-opening three-game road trip on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Santa Clara.

San Francisco was led by Rheina Ale's 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Vania Singleterry added 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds. The Dons shot 40% (18-for-45) from the floor, 40% (2-for-5) from three-point range, and 85% (17-for-20) at the line. Despite holding a 39-26 rebounding edge, the Dons were done in by 20 turnovers to just nine for the Lions.

It had been awhile since LMU's leading scorers had gotten it going at the same time so it was a welcome site to see Young and Cowling combine for the Lions' first 13 points. With 1,000 points in sight, Young knocked down two three-pointers early to stake the Lions to a 10-4 advantage. Threes were the theme, and senior Kavita Goss' triple helped extend the LMU lead to 18-10 with 11:15 left in the first.

Ale was not letting the Lions pull too far away, however, sinking her first four shots for nine of USF's initial 13 points. LMU led 21-16 with seven minutes to go in the first but the Dons held the Lions without a basket for the next 3:42 to go on a 10-3 run and take a 26-24 lead on Bailey Barbour's jumper in the lane. LMU's woes from the floor continued into the half as the Lions went just 2-for-10 over the final six minutes to head into the locker room trailing 33-28.

After settling for long-range efforts in the first half, Young was halfway to her milestone mark with 10 points at the break but came out with an aggressive mentality in the second. Attacking the basket, she put herself within four of the milestone with a three-point play and a driving layup in the first six minutes of the second half. Another driving layup at the 12-minute mark left her two points shy and brought the Lions within one, 42-41. It stayed that way until the 9:27 mark, when sophomore Candice Nichols drove in for a layup to put the Lions on top for the first time since 24-22. On the next possession, Nichols jumped in the passing lane for a steal and took it the length of the floor for a three-point lead.

Nichols' steal was evidence that the LMU defense was clamping down, holding USF to 31.8% (7-for-22) shooting in the second half. Spurred by Young and Nichols, the Lions went on a 19-5 run over a nine-minute span to take a 58-47 lead with 3:01 left. Young's milestone points came during the run and fittingly came from the free throw line as her two foul shots at 4:12 put her at the plateau. Cowling sealed the win by scoring six straight points over the final three minutes.