March 17, 2012

Box Score

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LOS ANGELES - The sixth-ranked LMU women's water polo team earned another sweep at the 2012 LMU Invitational, this one coming in a rainy, cold final day at the Burns Aquatic Center on Saturday afternoon. The Lions defense allowed just 17 goals all weekend to improve to 11-7 on the season.

The Lions posted a 14-4 win over Sonoma State to open the day and then finished with a 13-6 win over Pacific to move to win their fifth straight and improve to 6-0 in Western Water Polo Association Action.

After putting up 40 goals on Friday, the Lions scored 27 in day two. However, it was the Lions' defense that Head Coach Kyle Witt was stressing after the sweep.

"We have really been working hard on our defense," said Witt. "For the most part, we continued to show improvement in our defense and really stayed aggressive. Our defense is really coming along, but we will continue to really stress it as we move forward.

Alexandra Honny added six more goals to her weekend total, scoring 14 on the weekend. She scored four in the win over Sonoma State, then two more against Pacific. Kimberly Benedetti paced the Lions with five in the win over the Tigers, and added two more against Sonoma State.

In game one, the Lions jumped out to a 9-0 lead to coast to their sixth straight conference win to start the season. Then in game two, it was the Lions defense that turned a tight game into a seven-goal win.

"In the first half we just weren't playing the way we have been working in practice on defense," said Witt. "In the second half we did a much better job and it was the difference."

The Lions allowed just a single goal in the third and fourth quarters while scoring seven to pull away.

The Lions will have two weeks off before traveling to the Roadrunner Invitational II hosted by Cal State Bakersfield on March 31-April 1.

Saturday, March 17, 2012
DAY TWO RESULTS
Game #08 - LMU 14, Sonoma State 4
Game #09 - Pacific 11, Pomona-Pitzer 4
Game #10 - Colorado State 12, Cal State San Bernardino 7
Game #11 - CSU Bakersfield 10, Sonoma State 7
Game #12 - Colorado State 11, Ponoma-Pitzer 6
Game #13 - LMU 13, Pacific 6
Game #14 - CSU Bakersfield 10, Cal State San Bernardino 6