Feb. 13, 2010

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

Box Score | Photo Gallery

LOS ANGELES - Sophomore Alex Cowling exploded for a career-high 31 points to lift LMU to a 58-48 victory over San Francisco in the final game of a three-game homestand Saturday afternoon at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles. The Lions (11-13, 4-6 WCC) post their second straight win while keeping the Dons (4-24, 0-11 WCC) winless in conference play.

Cowling put on a show for the former Lions who were in attendance on Alumni Day, including Bryn Britton, who was the last LMU player to top 30 points in regulation with her 34 against Long Beach State on December 6, 2001. The last Lion to reach 30 was alongside Cowling in the pink uniforms the Lions were wearing for WBCA PinkZone week. Junior Renahy Young also had 31 in triple overtime against Arizona on November 15, 2008.

Cowling took control from the outset, scoring LMU's first six points and 13 of the team's 20 in the first half. She kept it up in the second, including one two-minute, 40-second stretch in which she scored 11 straight points. She finished 12-of-20 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the line while also pulling down a team-high seven rebounds. It was the third 30-point performance in the WCC this season and put Cowling into the LMU single-season scoring top-10 with 413 points this year.

Young provided ample support for Cowling, registering 14 points, four rebounds, four assists, and four steals. For much of the game, it was Young and Cowling who were doing the scoring as they combined for 47 of the team's 58 points and went 16-for-31 from the floor while the rest of the Lions shot 4-for-25.

LMU finished at 35.7% (20-for-56) from the floor and 20% (4-for-20) from three-point range while connecting on 82.4% (14-for-17) at the free throw line. Although the Lions were out-rebounded 35-21, they held a 22-4 advantage in points off turnovers thanks to a season-low eight while forcing the Dons into 20.

Vania Singleterry had 16 points and seven boards for USF and Rheina Ale added 12 and seven. The Dons shot 36.7% (18-for-49) from the floor, 27.8% (5-for-18) from three-point range, and 87.5% (7-for-8) at the line.

It was a slow start for the Lions as USF opened the game on 9-2 run, extending the advantage to 14-6 on Singleterry's three with 13:05 left. Cowling, who had 16 points in the first half on Thursday against Santa Clara, scored LMU's first six points against USF but it wasn't until Young's steal and coast-to-coast layup with 11:02 left that any other Lion got on the board.

Young's layup was but a minor blip in Cowling's production as she scored the next five points to get the Lions back to 15-13 before back-to-back threes from Katy Keating extended the Dons' lead back to 21-13. The Lions weren't getting much production from anyone outside of Cowling and Young, who combined for all of LMU's 20 first-half points as the Lions went into the break trailing 25-20. Cowling had 13 on 5-of-11 shooting while the rest of the team was 3-for-17.

It took until the 17:27 mark of the second half for anyone besides Cowling and Young to core, when senior Lisa Helmers got inside for a layup. She followed that a few possessions later with a three-pointer to pull the Lions back within three, 31-28. That three spurred a 9-0 LMU run that saw the Lions take their first lead of the contest on junior Melanie Ysaguirre's offensive-rebound and put-back, followed by a sweet pass from Young to Cowling inside that put LMU up 34-31 with 11 minutes to play.

With the lead, Cowling went back to work, scoring LMU's next 11 points to go over the 20-point mark for the seventh time in her last nine games. Her jumper with 8:04 left gave the Lions their largest advantage to that point, 43-36.

USF kept coming and back-to-back jumpers from Singleterry and Whitney Daniels made it a two-point game, 46-44. But sophomore Candice Nichols hit a three and Young drove underneath for a left-handed layup to restore the seven-point lead. That would be too much of a deficit for the Dons to overcome and Cowling reached the 30-point plateau with a move inside with 1:04 left.

The Lions head out on the road for the final time next week, heading to Gonzaga and Portland. Thursday's game at Gonzaga will have a special start time of 8 p.m. and will be televised live on CBS College Sports. Saturday's tip-off at Portland is slated for 2 p.m.