Jan. 11, 2012
Complete Release in PDF 
BRIEFLY...
The Lions continue their hunt for their first WCC victory of the season when they travel to face University of San Diego on Thursday, Jan. 12. Tip off at the Jenny Craig Pavilion is set for 7 p.m.
LIONS' LAST LINE
The Lions remain winless in WCC play after facing a pair of the league's top team last week. In its first-ever trip to BYU, the Lions trailed just 12-9 early before a 19-0 run by the Cougars opened up a spread that LMU could never come back from. BYU shot over 60 percent in the first half while opening up that 26-point halftime lead. Alex Cowling had her eighth 20-plus point performance, finishing with 23 on the night, but no other Lion reached double figures. Less than 48 hours later, LMU was back on its home court taking on then No. 24 Gonzaga. The Lions stuck right with the Zags in the first half, trailing just 34-26 at the break, but a 13-0 Gonzaga run midway through the half made it a 20-point game, 55-35, and they never looked back in the 80-54 final.
HEAD-TO-HEAD VERSUS SAN DIEGO
The Lions and Toreros have met 61 times in program history with San Diego holding a 34-27 all-time edge. USD is just one of two opponents that LMU has competed against more than 60 times - Pepperdine representing the other with 63 all-time meetings. In the early 2000's LMU built a nine-game win streak against the Toreros, but beginning in 2007, USD has held a 8-3 edge. Last season, the Lions went into Jenny Craig Pavilion and came away with a huge 70-53 win behind 25 points from Renahy Young and 13 from Camille Buckley. San Diego escaped a regular-season sweep with a 77-72 win at Gersten Pavilion, then ended the Lions' 2010-11 season with a 73-43 first-round WCC Championship win at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
ABOUT THE SAN DIEGO TOREROS
San Diego moved to 11-3 overall and 2-0 in WCC play with a 58-41 win at Santa Clara on Monday. The Toreros opened conference play on Saturday at Saint Mary's, picking up a 77-60 win in Moraga. USD averages 70.4 ppg while allowing just 54.6 ppg to their opponents. Leading the offensive charge are Dominique Conners (15.8 ppg), Morgan Woodrow (15.2 ppg) and Amy Kame (11.7 ppg). The Toreros also have four players average more than five rebounds per game, and a fifth at 4.9 per game, as they hold nearly an eight rebound edge over opponents. Connors was the WCC Player of the Week for Jan. 9 after turning in her fifth 20-plus point game of the season in the win over the Gaels. It marked the second consecutive week that a USD player has earned the honor as Woodrow was named WCC Player of the Week for Jan. 2.
FREE THROW STREAK
Alex Cowling went a perfect 11-for-11 from the free-throw line on Dec. 17 versus UTEP and has not missed since. She has now made 38 consecutive free throws dating back to the Dec. 10 game versus Portland State. In the Lions last eight games, Cowling has missed just one shot from the charity stripe, going 43-for-44 during that span.
NATIONAL STATS
Game in and game out, Alex Cowling continues her assault on nearly every category in the LMU record book and her numbers this season put her among the nation's best in a handful of categories. In games through Jan. 8, Cowling ranks No. 10 in points per game (21.4), No. 8 in double-doubles (8), No. 44 in free throw percentage (85.1) and No. 74 in rebounds per game (8.8).
WCC DECEMBER PLAYER OF THE MONTH
Alex Cowling was named the WCC Women's Basketball Player of the Month for December after averaging 22.5 points and 8.8 rebounds during LMU's eight games that month. She began the month with her first of three 30-plus point efforts, pouring in 31 in a 57-54 win at New Mexico. She recorded five consecutive double-doubles that began with a 30-point, 11-rebound effort in a win over Sacramento State and ended with a 32-point, 12-rebound finish against Saint Mary's. Her 32 points against the Gaels was also a career-high. She shot 46 percent from the field and 56.6 percent from three and also closed out the month of December riding a streak of 26 consecutive made free throws.
COWLING CLIMBS CAREER SCORING TOP 10
A 27-point effort against No. 24 Gonzaga on Jan. 7 brought Alex Cowling's career scoring total to 1,405 - good for fifth place in the LMU all-time record book. She is 257 points off the all-time career record of 1,662 held by Bryn Britton (1998-02). But before Cowling reaches that mark, her first hurdle is to jump into the No. 4 position, held by current Associate Head Coach Lynn Flanagan (1,436 points, 1988-91).
RECORD BOOK WATCH
Alex Cowling is also moving up the ranks in a number of additional career statistical categories. She currently ranks No. 1 in scoring average (17.01 ppg), No. 8 in total rebounds (590), No. 5 in rebounding average (7.2 rpg), No. 4 in field goals (538), No. 3 in field-goal percentage (.499), No. 7 in total free throws (268) and No. 3 in free-throw percentage (.812).
WCC HOSTS WEEKLY ON-LINE LIVE CHATS
The West Coast Conference will feature its women's basketball coaches with weekly live-chats on WCCsports.com. Each week throughout the conference season, head to our website for an exclusive live-chat with a different WCC women's basketball head coach. Fans are encouraged to take part by submitting questions at WCCsports.com. The first chat will take place on Tuesday, January 3 at 12 p.m. PT and each live-chat thereafter will be every Monday at 12 p.m. PT. LMU Head Coach Julie Wilhoit will be featured on Monday, February 6.
LIONS' GAME AT GONZAGA TO AIR ON CBS SPORTS NETWORK
The West Coast Conference and CBS Sports Network announced that two WCC women's basketball games will air nationally this season. The University of Portland at the University of San Diego will be televised on January 19, 2012, with tip-off scheduled for 6:00 p.m. PT. Loyola Marymount will visit Gonzaga the following week on January 26, 2012, with tip-off scheduled for 6:00 p.m. PT. CBS Sports Network can be found on cable and satellite providers nationwide, including DIRECTV channel 613 and DISH Network channel 152.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE
Alex Cowling is racking up the double-double performances, tallying her eighth such performances of the season on Dec. 29 against Saint Mary's. The 32-point, 12-rebound outing against the Gaels also served as her fifth consecutive double-double. That streak was snapped two days later when Cowling finished with 13 points and six rebounds against San Francisco.
RAINING THREES
Perhaps inspired by the four top career three-point shooters in LMU history (Renahy Young, Lisa Helmers, Amanda Patton and Rachael Ziemann) sitting courtside on Dec. 19, Monica DeAngelis sank an LMU record-tying seven three's on her way to a career-high 27 points against Cal Poly. She joins Patton and Ziemann atop the program's single-game three-point field goal list.
RECORD-SETTING GAME IN ALBUQUERQUE
LMU's 57-54 win over New Mexico on Dec. 1 was the first ever against the Lobos on their home court, breaking a four-game losing streak at The Pit. In addition, a handful of Lions tied or broke career-records in a variety of statistical categories. None was more impressive than Alex Cowling tying her career-high of 31 points, of 12-of-21 shooting. The redshirt junior also tied her career-high with four three-pointers and set a new high in steals with five. Guards Hazel Ramirez and Courtney Collishaw both set career marks with six assists apiece while Collishaw added a career-high eight rebounds.
COWLING EARNS ALL-TOURNEY HONORS
Alex Cowling was named to the five-member DoubleTree Los Angeles Westside Thanksgiving Classic all-tournament team, marking the fourth consecutive time she has received the honor. Cowling led the Lions by averaging 17.5 points and 14 rebounds over the two games and was instrumental down the stretch of the Consolation Game against Wyoming, leading LMU to its first win of the season. Her 17 rebounds against Youngstown State were one shy of the all-time tournament record and a personal career-high for the redshirt junior.
COWLING NAMED PRESEASON ALL-WCC
Cowling, a redshirt junior for the Lions, was the only non-senior named to the 10-member Preseason All-WCC team. The WCC Newcomer of the Year in 2008-09 and a first team All-WCC selection in 2009-10, the Benicia, Calif., native was leading LMU in scoring at 22.5 ppg in 2010-11 before suffering an injury just six games in. Despite that setback, she currently ranks No. 1 in LMU's record book for career scoring average (16.1 ppg) and No. 10 in career points (1,062). Back to full strength, Cowling will be the prime catalyst to the Lions' success this season.
LMU SELECTED FOURTH IN PRESEASON WCC COACHES POLL
For the second consecutive season the LMU women's basketball team has been selected fourth in the West Coast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. The Lions received 36 points in a vote by the nine WCC head coaches. Reigning WCC champion Gonzaga was selected as the favorite to win the WCC title in 2011-12, earning 64 points and eight of the nine possible first-place votes. Conference newcomer BYU was selected to finish second, earning 52 points and one first-place vote, while Pepperdine was selected to finish third (50 points). Saint Mary's (fifth, 34 points), Portland (sixth, 32 points), San Diego (seventh, 26 points), Santa Clara (eighth, 22 points) and San Francisco (ninth, 8 points) rounded out the preseason poll.
CENTENNIAL SEASON
LMU is celebrating its Centennial in 2011-12 and athletics will honor the anniversary all season long. LMUat100 will feature a Centennial Game for each of the varsity programs, which includes women's basketball on Dec. 4 against UCLA and Jan. 21 against Santa Clara. For more information, visit LMULions.com/LMUat100.
PCH CHALLENGE
Separated by 19.1 miles of scenic coastline, longtime cross-town adversaries Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine have come together in an effort to boost their decades-long rivalry with the creation of the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) Challenge. The series, which is in its third year, 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. LMU and Pepperdine will be represented by over 12 of their intercollegiate athletic teams through both regular and post-season competitions over the course of the academic calendar. Any head-to-head competition, including matches in the post-season and tournaments throughout the year, will be counted toward the scoring and added to the scorecard as they occur. For the sports in which the two teams do not meet head-to-head, the teams will battle for points that will be awarded on the basis of overall finish at their respective post-season championships. The Waves have won each of the first two competitions, and currently lead the Lions, 4.5-0, in 2011-12. To learn more about the PCH Challenge and view the current scorecard, please visit: http://www.lmulions.com/trads/PCH-Cup.html.
2012 ZAPPOS.COM WCC CHAMPIONSHIPS RETURN TO VEGAS
The 2012 Zappos.com West Coast Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships return to the bright lights of Las Vegas and Orleans Arena on February twenty-ninth through March fifth as 18 teams battle for two tickets to the NCAA Tournament. Visit WCCSports.com today for complete championship and ticket information.
LIONS ALL-ACCESS
Fans can watch all LMU home games live on the internet through Lions All-Access on www.LMULions.com. In conjunction with CBS Online, All-Access is the official home to video broadcasts of LMU Athletics. Lions' All-Access will bring all non-televisied home games for men's basketball, women's basketball and women's volleyball. To subscribe to All-Access, click on the "Multimedia" tab on www.LMULions.com.
LIONS AUDIO NETWORK
Once again, in conjunction with Stretch Internet, all LMU home and road games will be broadcast live online at www.LMULions.com. Just click on the "Listen Live" link on the women's basketball home page, then click on "Listen" or "Archive" next to the game of your choice. All broadcasts will be archived within 72 hours of their original airing and will include both the 15-minute pre-game show and post-game interviews.
FOLLOW THE LIONS ONLINE
Log on to www.LMULions.com for all the latest info on the Lions, including updated schedules, rosters, player bios, and more. Don't forget to also sign up to follow the Lions on Facebook (Facebook.com/LMULions) and Twitter (Twitter.com/LMULions). Additionally, LMU women's basketball now has its own Facebook page, which can be found at www.Facebook.com/LMUWomensHoops. Coach Julie Wilhoit also will be on Twitter this year - find her at www.twitter.com/CoachJules.
