Jan. 15, 2011

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Video highlights from Lions' All-Access.

LOS ANGELES - In a showdown of unbeaten teams in the West Coast Conference, LMU rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit but could not make the final push in a 65-59 defeat to Gonzaga on Saturday afternoon at Gersten Pavilion. The Lions (9-9, 3-1 WCC) held the Bulldogs (15-4, 3-0 WCC) to just 21 second-half points and had pulled within four points with the possession but Gonzaga sank its free throws to hold off LMU.

The top two defensive teams in the league, each side entered the game on a three-game winning streak while Gonzaga was riding an 18-game WCC unbeaten run that included five straight over the Lions. For the first half, the Bulldogs looked every bit of the conference's top offense, shooting 55% en route to a 44-31 halftime lead, but the second half was all about LMU's defense, which held the Bulldogs 20 points below their season average overall and to just 21 points after the break. Although Gonzaga led wire-to-wire, LMU's rally cut it to four points with 2:12 left but the normally-steady Lions were victimized by missed free throws and an untimely turnover as Gonzaga held on.

Redshirt freshman Camille Buckley recorded her second consecutive double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds and was one of three Lions to score in double figures. Junior Candice Nichols had a team-high 16 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists and senior Renahy Young added 11 points, seeing her streak of consecutive 20-point games snap at five.

LMU finished the game shooting 30.3% (20-for-66) overall and 28.6% (6-for-21) from three-point range. After three games of steady free throw shooting, especially down the stretch, LMU was an uncharacteristic 13-of-21 (61.9%) at the line. The Lions also continued to take care of the ball, committing 13 turnovers two days after giving the ball away a season-low 10 times.

Courtney Vandersloot led all scorers with 22 points, adding nine assists, eight rebounds, and eight turnovers. Katelan Redmon added 17 points and Kayla Standish had nine points and 10 rebounds despite battling foul trouble.

Gonzaga shot 42.4% (25-for-59) from the floor and made all five of its three-pointers in the first half in shooting 35.7% (5-for-14) overall. Led by Vandersloot's 9-for-11 performance at the line, Gonzaga was 10-for-13 (76.9%) from the stripe and held a 44-40 rebounding edge to counter 17 turnovers.

The contest was tight over the opening eight minutes as Gonzaga looked to push the pace, jumping out to a 13-7 lead. The Lions were out of sorts for a bit, starting the contest 1-for-5 with four turnovers in the first four minutes but soon settled down and a three-point play by Buckley pulled the hosts back to 13-10.

That's when the Redmons took over as Gonzaga's duo went on a 10-0 run over the next 2:37. Jazmine Redmon had all five of her points and Katelan also had five to turn a 13-10 Gonzaga lead into a 25-10 advantage. LMU looked to counter through its backcourt duo of Nichols and Young, who combined for 18 first-half points, but Gonzaga shot 55% in the opening 20 minutes to carry a 44-31 lead into the break.

A Vandersloot jumper 95 seconds into the second half put Gonzaga ahead 46-31 but that only served to ignite the LMU defense, which turned up the pressure to force eight turnovers over the next seven minutes. Gonzaga was flustered on offense and LMU's defense took the cue, with a jumper and three from Nichols on back-to-back possessions kicking off a 14-3 run over the next 6:06. A three-pointer by Young pulled LMU back within double-digits for the first time since 18-10 and sophomore Courtney Collishaw beat everyone down the floor to grab an offensive rebound and lay it back in to make it a four-point game, 49-45, with 12:01 remaining.

After Katelan Redmon halted LMU's momentum with a pair of jumpers, Collishaw knocked down a three and Buckley followed with two foul shots to bring LMU within three, 53-50. Vandersloot would have nothing of it, however, scoring or assisting on Gonzaga's next four baskets to push the lead back to 61-53.

Just as it looked like Gonzaga would pull away, the Lions came roaring back. Senior Jessica Vargas hit a floater in the lane and then fed Buckley for a layup to again cut the margin to four, but that would be as close as LMU would get. Nichols had two looks from three to make it a one-point game, misfiring on both, but LMU got stops until Young was fouled going for a rebound. Shooting a one-and-one bonus, the senior, a career 77% foul shooter, missed the first and LMU was forced to foul. The door was left open for one last Lions push when Vandersloot missed the front end of her bonus, only for her to steal the outlet pass. Vandersloot converted Gonzaga's last four points at the line to hold off the Lion comeback.

LMU closes out its three-game homestand next Saturday at 2 p.m. against local rivals Pepperdine. The game will be the third in the "Be A Part of It" series and all fans will received $3 off admission. The teams will also be playing for PCH Challenge Cup points, which serves as an annual scorecard for the NCAA-sponsored athletic contests between the Lions and Waves, and challenges each institution to rise above the other within the West Coast Conference.