Jan. 16, 2010

Angie Kiel's postgame interview with Coach Wilhoit from Podcast Center.
Audio highlights from Podcast Center.

Box Score

Santa Clara, Calif. - Four players scored in double figures as LMU completed a successful 2-0 road trip to the Bay Area with a 60-56 victory at Santa Clara in a West Coast Conference game Saturday afternoon at Leavey Center. The Lions (9-8, 2-1 WCC) record their first two-game winning streak since November and move above .500 for the first time since December 19 with their fourth straight win over the Broncos (2-17, 0-4 WCC).

The four players in double figures accounted for 56 of LMU's 60 points on the afternoon. Sophomore Alex Cowling led all scorers with 18 points on 7-for-8 from the floor, with 14 of her points coming after halftime. Junior Renahy Young added 15 points to move into the LMU career scoring top-10, surpassing Joelle Longobardi for 10th place to finish the weekend with 1,015 points. Sophomore Candice Nichols came off the bench for 13 points and senior Kavita Goss chipped in 10. The Lions also got great rebounding production from their posts, with junior Melanie Ysaguirre grabbing eight rebounds and junior Maggie Burkett pulling down five.

LMU shot 35.7% (20-for-56) from the floor and 31.6% (6-for-19) from three-point range. The line is where the Lions clinched the win, however, as LMU went 10-of-11 from the stripe in the second half, including a perfect 8-for-8 over the final four minutes, to finish at 77.8% (14-for-18) overall.

Alyssa Shoji scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half to pace Santa Clara. Lena Gipson added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Broncos, who shot 41.1% (23-for-56) from the floor, 29.4% (5-for-17) from three-point range, and 71.4% (5-for-7) at the line. SCU held a 39-36 rebounding edge.

In a game that featured 10 ties and six lead changes, the Lions took it to the Broncos from the opening tip, sinking their first three shots for a 7-0 lead in the first 1:16. Santa Clara answered by going inside to Gipson, who scored six quick points to help the hosts take their first lead, 17-16, on a three-pointer by Noe Viloria.

With leading scorer Cowling on the bench after being called for two fouls in the first 10 minutes, Nichols picked up the slack, scoring six straight points during one stretch. After that, though, the Lions went cold, going over six minutes without a basket as Santa Clara rolled off an 8-0 run until Ysaguirre's layup at the buzzer made it 29-27 Santa Clara at the half. The opening 20 minutes featured four ties and five lead changes.

LMU turned to Young and Cowling for a 5-0 run out of the break to restore their lead but Santa Clara hit four of its first six of the half to take a 39-37 advantage on back-to-back threes from Shoji. Well rested from the first half, Cowling was inspired in the second, making four of her first five shots of the period. Nichols followed with her third three-point play of the contest as part of a 7-2 Lion run that turned a 45-44 lead into a 52-46 advantage with 5:14 left. LMU would not trail again, although the final minutes would provide some drama and required steady foul shooting from the Lions.

Young moved into the LMU career scoring top-10 with a pair of free throws at 3:48 of the second half that gave the Lions a six-point cushion. A pair of Shoji foul shots made it a four-point game and, after a few stops on each end, Gipson grabbed an offensive rebound that led to Shoji driving in for a layup that cut the Lion lead to two with 56.9 seconds left.

Following a timeout, LMU ran the clock down and Young came off a drive to feed underneath to Cowling, who was fouled with 29 ticks left. She hit both to make it a two-possession game. Santa Clara went inside to Gipson, who powered her way to the basket to cut the lead in half with 14 seconds on the clock. LMU had trouble inbounding, calling timeout just before a five-second violation. Coming out the timeout, Goldenberger fouled out but the Broncos were not yet in the bonus. On the inbounds, Young was fouled with 11.1 left and made both.

The Broncos weren't going down without a fight, however, and with the Lions guarding against the three, Shoji drove in for a layup with 3.6 seconds left. Santa Clara used its last timeout, after which Cowling was fouled. She made both to secure the win as the Lions scored their final nine points from the line.

LMU returns to Gersten Pavilion for its WCC home opener next week on Thursday against Portland. On Saturday, the Lions welcome defending conference champions Gonzaga at 2 p.m. on Pack the House Day. LMU will be holding drawings throughout the Gonzaga game for two iPod Touches, a Nintendo Wii, and a flat screen television.