March 4, 2011

Women's Preview from Lions' All-Access
Men's Preview from Lions' All-Access

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The "third season" is upon us as LMU arrived in Las Vegas, Nev., on Thursday to prepare for the 2011 Zappos.com West Coast Conference Championships. The Lions will open play on Friday at approximately 2:30 p.m. as the tournament's #6 seed, taking on #7 seed San Diego at the Orleans Arena.

LMU's travel day began early with a 7:30 departure from campus and a 9:05 flight from LAX to Las Vegas. While other teams might have traveled by bus, the Lions elected to fly in order to capitalize on the jam-packed day of preparation. And for good reason, too, as LMU went straight off the plane from McCarran airport to UNLV's Cox Pavilion practice gym for the first of two practices on the day.

The first practice, which ran from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. would be the more intense as the Lions did their pre-game prep work to face the Toreros while also loosening up the legs after a morning of sitting. At 12:30, the players and coaches boarded the bus and headed over the Orleans Arena, where they have a shootaround scheduled from 1-2 p.m. As WCC and arena workers scurried around them to get everything in order for the start of the tournament, the Lions went through shooting drills to get them accustomed to the rims, floor, and arena atmosphere.

At 2 p.m. after nearly seven hours of traveling and practicing, the players were finally able to check in to their hotel rooms for some much-needed rest before dinner at 5 p.m. Eschewing the usual restaurant or Vegas-buffet menu, the Lions were instead treated to a home-cooked meal, as Hillary Drinovsky's aunt, Mary Rue, was kind enough to open up her house to host the team for a pasta night. A few hours later, well-fed and tired, the Lions returned to the hotel to turn in for the night, focused on the game ahead as the neon lights of the Strip flickered in the distance.

You can follow all of the Lions' WCC Tournament run through a variety of media outlets. Be sure to visit the LMULions.com WCC Tournament page for daily updates and live coverage.

BYUtv/ESPN3.COM TO AIR FIRST TWO DAYS
The West Coast Conference announced that the first two rounds of both the 2011 Zappos.com West Coast Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships will be produced and televised live by BYUtv on Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5. In addition, all eight of these early round games will be simulcast on both ESPN3.com and/or ESPN Full Court. BYUtv is currently in 55 million homes nationwide in the basic tiers of DirecTV and Dish Network and approximately 500 other cable systems in the United States. BYUtv is also seen in over 140 countries across the globe. A comprehensive list of where to find BYUtv is available at http://www.byutv.org/about/getbyu.
The early round championships coverage is in addition to ESPN's continuing WCC Basketball Championships coverage of the men's semifinals and final and women's final on Sunday, March 6 and Monday, March 7.

SMARTBUG TO GIVE FANS INSIDE LOOK
Fans attending this week's 2011 Zappos.com West Coast Conference Basketball Championships at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas can follow the game in greater detail thanks to two new features being introduced by the WCC.
The WCC has teamed with SmartBug radio to provide fans with the real-time radio broadcasts from all eight schools during every game of this year's championships. Fans who purchase the three-channel SmartBug Personal Listening device from merchandise stands at the Orleans Arena can also hear the national radio call provided by the WCC and its broadcast partners for all 14 men's and women's contests. With the addition of SmartBug, WCC fans can now enjoy the same listening experience available to people who attend the NCAA Final Four and many other major sporting events. This enables fans to listen to the same broadcasters who've covered their favorite teams all year long and to whom they've come to trust for accurate descriptions along with timely analysis.
SmartBugs can be purchased for $15 (three-channel model) or 12 each (two-channel model, features only school's radio calls). SmartBug provides a radio feed to fans via pocket-sized listening devices in the Orleans Arena seating bowl, luxury suite, and concourse areas. Each radio comes with batteries and a headset included.