Feb. 27, 2010

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LOS ANGELES - LMU's hopes of sending out its senior with a win were denied as junior Renahy Young's three-pointer at the buzzer rimmed out and LMU fell 67-64 against Saint Mary's in the regular season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon at Gersten Pavilion. Young had a game-high 23 points for the Lions (12-16, 5-9 WCC), who also got 20 points and 12 rebounds from sophomore Alex Cowling, but LMU drops its second straight by three points and was foiled in the upset bid of the Gaels (21-8, 12-2 WCC).

For the second time in as many games, there was confusion at the final buzzer and the result came down to a Young three. On Thursday, Young's half-court heave to send the game into overtime dropped but the referees waved it off for the ball still being in Young's hand when the buzzer sounded. In this contest, the Lions again trailed by three when SMC's Jontelle Smith was trapped and called for traveling as the fell to the floor when the horn sounded. The referees convened and ruled there to be four-tenths of a second remaining. Out of timeouts, the Lions lined up out of bounds and ran a play for Young, who got a great look from the corner but the ball slid around all parts of the rim before dropping out.

Young finished with 23 points, five assists, and four steals, equaling her career-high with five three-pointers (on seven attempts) to pace the Lions. In doing so, she moved into fifth place on the LMU career scoring list, passing Tanya White (1992-95) with 1,195. She also pushed into the LMU single-season scoring top-10 with her 426th point, which puts her ninth.

Cowling's 20 points marked the second time this season that she and Young had each topped 20 in the same game and she registered her team-leading fifth double-double of the season. Cowling had 14 in the first half on 6-of-9 shooting but struggled in the second, connecting on just three of her 13 attempts. Even so, she remained honed in on Kate Murray's 492-point single-season scoring record, pushing up to second place with 485.

LMU struggled to connect in the second half, shooting 27% after the break to finish at 33.8% (25-for-74) overall. After attempting a season-high 35 three-pointers at Saint Mary's in their last meeting, the Lions again fired away from long range, putting up 30 from distance and hitting 10 for a 33.3%. For the second straight game, however, free throws were a factor as LMU went to the line just eight times, hitting four. LMU also wasn't able to take advantage of a 44-39 rebounding edge, including 23 offensive boards that led to just 10 second-chance points. Sophomore Candice Nichols had six of those offensive boards en route to a career-high nine rebounds.

Jontelle Smith hit five threes and finished with 19 points to lead Saint Mary's. Jasmine Smith added 15 points and Louella Tomlinson had 15 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and four blocks. The Gaels shot 48% in the second half and 45.1% (23-for-51) for the game. They also hit 10 threes but on only 19 attempts (52.6%) while knocking down 61.1% (11-for-18) at the line.

There were shades of the teams' last meeting in Moraga on January 30, when Saint Mary's scored the game's first 13 points and led by 25 in the first half. In this one, long range shooting was on the menu early but with different results for the two sides. Saint Mary's set the tone for the rest of the game, connecting on its first four long-range attempts while four of LMU's first six shots were from distance, although they made just one, and trailed 16-5 after four minutes.

With Tomlinson roaming the middle, the Lions gladly accepted the shootout challenge, getting three consecutive triples from senior Kavita Goss, Cowling, and Young to pull back to 18-14. Those helped kick-start a 23-7 run that turned a 16-5 deficit into a 28-23 advantage. Cowling was particularly hot, scoring seven of the 23 to put her past current Associate Head Coach Lynn Flanagan (465) and into second place on the Lions' single-season scoring mark. She wasn't done, however, later rolling off a screen for a 15-footer that brought LMU level at 21-all. Young kept the good vibes going with a layup for LMU's first lead and then connected on a three, followed by a banked jumper from Nichols for LMU's largest lead, 28-23 with 5:21 remaining. The duo of Cowling and Young carried the Lions, as each had 14 at the break to send the Lions into the locker room with a 36-31 edge.

The Gaels went back to the three-ball to open the second half, hitting four threes coming out of the locker room as part of a 17-3 run that put them ahead 48-39. Jontelle Smith had two of the triples during the streak, with Jasmine Smith and Kate Gaze adding one each. With all the long-range scoring that was going on, Young decided to get in on the act, knocking down a pair of triples and feeding senior Jenna Sybesma underneath to cut it to 50-47 with 12:18 to play.

Other than Young, though, the Lions weren't getting much production in the second half, as they made just six of their first 33 shots, including 3-of-14 from three-point range while SMC was 10-of-19 to maintain its lead. Cowling, who was 6-of-9 in the first half, made just one of her first 13 attempts after the break. Still, the Lions hung close and made the final two minutes interesting. A straight-away three from freshman Monica DeAngelis cut it to 59-56 with two minutes to play. After a trio free throws from Jasmine Smith doubled SMC's lead with 1:24 left, Sybesma grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it in for a four-point game. Two Tomlinson foul shots put SMC up six but Cowling pulled up in the lane to get the Lions back within four. LMU trapped Jasmine Smith but Cowling was whistled for a foul and Smith sank one to make it 65-60 with 31.5 left. Free throws would continue to be crucial for the Gaels after Cowling answered from the wing to close within three and Jontelle Smith sank two free throws. Young then went the distance for a layup with 6.1 left, leading to Smith's travel and Young's desperation three.

Before the game, LMU paid tribute to its five graduating seniors - Goss, Sybesma, Lisa Helmers, Maggie Burkett, and Aleyse Evans - along with the two on Saint Mary's roster, Jontelle Smith and Kira Kojola.

LMU will enter next week's Zappos.com West Coast Conference Tournament as the number six seed. The Lions will open the tournament against the yet-to-be-determined seventh seed (either San Francisco or Santa Clara) on Friday, March 5 in the second first-round game of the day, set to tip at approximately 2:30 p.m. The entire tournament can be heard live on KXLU 88.9 FM.