Feb. 26, 2011
Box Score
LOS ANGELES - Senior Renahy Young scored 25 points and LMU sent its graduating class out with a victory, 87-60 over San Francisco in the West Coast Conference regular season finale for both schools Saturday afternoon at Gersten Pavilion. All four seniors scored for the Lions (11-17, 5-9 WCC), who won their fifth straight over the Dons (4-24, 1-12 WCC).
On a day in which the Lions honored their four graduating seniors - Renahy Young, Melanie Ysaguirre, Jessica Vargas, and Lauren Wilkins - something had to give as LMU entered the game having lost seven in a row and nine of its last 10 while the Dons had dropped their last six and 13 of 14. Led by Young's ninth 20-point game of the season and 21st of her career, the LMU senior class was not about to go out to defeat, combining for 42 points.
Young had 14 of her 25 in the first half and added three rebounds, three steals, and two assists. She moves within 25 points of second place on LMU's all-time scoring list with 1,542 while extending her program records for three-pointers made and free throws made to 166 and 378, respectively. She also moved into a tie for ninth place on the school's career steals list with 175.
Young was joined in double figures by freshman Hazel Ramirez, who had 13 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists, and two steals. The Lions also got nine points each from Vargas and sophomores Courtney Collishaw and Monica DeAngelis and eight points and 14 rebounds from freshman Camille Buckley, who climbed into third place on LMU's single-season rebounding list with 276 thanks to her 13th double-digit game rebounding of the season. Ysaguirre added four points and nine boards, freshman Alexis Love had four points and five boards, and Wilkins also had five rebounds to accompany her four points.
LMU shot 40% (26-for-65) from the floor overall and 31% (9-for-29) from distance. The Lions knocked down a season-high 26 free throws on 30 attempts (86.7%) and held a 12-point advantage at the line, where the Dons went 14-for-18 (77.8%). LMU also dominated the glass, 49-31, including 18 offensive rebounds that led to 20 second-chance points.
Katy Keating came off the bench to lead USF with 17 points and five rebounds. Ashley Boggs and Rheina Ale each had 13 points for the Dons, who shot 36.4% (20-for-55) overall and 31.6% (6-for-19) from three.
LMU had not won since the last time the two teams met, a January 27th meeting in San Francisco that saw the Lions knock down a season-high 12 threes. USF was content to sit in the same zone and bait the Lions into more threes and Collishaw obliged, connecting on her first two in helping LMU take an early 12-6 lead. But the Dons wanted to show the Lions that they could knock it down from distance as well, with Keating hitting three straight to put the visitors on top, 17-16 with 11:08 to play.
USF led 24-22 with 6:32 left but the Lions clamped down on defense, not allowing the Dons a basket for the rest of the half. At the other end, Young started to heat up, scoring 10 of LMU's next 11 points to kick-start a 17-2 run to close out the half and give the Lions a 39-26 lead at the break.
Vania Singleterry's three with 1:51 gone in the second half got the deficit into single digits at 39-30 but Young responded with a jumper to start an 11-2 run and it would not get that close again. Any USF rally was thwarted, either by a three from Ramirez or by the offensive rebounding of Buckley and Ysaguirre. After not attempting a shot in the first half, Buckley's jumper with 5:29 left put the Lions up 20 as part of a 14-0 mini-run and greater 23-4 run that pushed the lead up to 30, 81-51. Young, Ysaguirre, and Wilkins all scored during the spurt and the four seniors were able to leave the game to a round of applause with more than two minutes remaining.
LMU heads off to the Zappos.com West Coast Conference Championships next week as the #6 seed. The Lions will open play on Friday at approximately 2:30 p.m. against #7 seed San Diego, with the winner advancing to play #3 seed Pepperdine on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
- GO LIONS -
