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LOS ANGELES - LMU's final non-conference homestand begins Saturday, Dec. 20, as the Lions host Hawaii in a 2 p.m. tip-off from Gersten Pavilion. The game will air live and free via the LMU Sports Network at LMULions.com.
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LMU vs. Hawaii - Saturday, Dec. 20 @ 2:00 pm - Gersten Pavilion
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2014-15 Media Almanac | Game Notes
LIONS LAST LINE
Growing pains are always difficult, particularly against the reigning Pac-12 Tournament Champion USC Trojans. While it took nearly 16 minutes of action to find their way, the young Lion squad did just that despite falling 96-54 to the Trojans Thursday at the Galen Center. LMU (2-7) outscored UCS (8-2) 13-10 over the final 4:24 of the first half and trailed in the second, 43-30. The Lions' youth did their best to get into the act beginning with the season's first starts for freshman Deshka Olson and sophomore Alyson Lock. The duo were in the starting lineup in place of juniors Deanna Johnson and Sophie Taylor. Taylor did not play due to illness. Freshman Chloe Hall contributed a career-high six points while classmates Olson and Makenzie Cast had five and four, respectively. The fourth rookie in the lineup, Bree Alford, finished with two points and a team-high six boards. Johnson led LMU in scoring for the fourth time this season, finishing with 13 points off the bench. Senior Ben-Jumbo also reached double-figures, finishing with 11 points.
ABOUT THE HAWAII RAINBOW WAHINE (5-4)
Hawaii enters Saturday's game at 5-4 overall, having recently snapped a three-game losing streak with a 92-40 win over BYU-Hawaii (Dec. 13). The Rainbow Wahine are led by sixth-year senior Shawna-Lei Kuehu, who averages 13.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. She also has a team-best 25 assists and 12 blocks, and ranks second on the team with 13 steals. Also averaging double-figures are Ashleigh Karaitiana (11.7 ppg) and Morgan Mason (10.0 ppg). Hawaii shoots 41 percent from the field and 28 percent from three while their opponents have hit 38 percent overall and nearly 40 percent from three. Hawaii has played their last seven games at home, going 3-4 during that span. This marks just their second road trip of the year after opening the season at Colorado State and Denver, where they went 2-0.
WHEN LAST WE MET
There have been 10 all-time meetings between the Lions and Rainbow Wahine, dating back to the 1983 season. Hawaii won the first eight straight meetings, but the Lions took victory in the most recent two - 79-69 win in Gersten Pavilion on Dec. 7, 2006 and a 63-47 final in Hilo, Hawaii, on Nov. 14, 2008.
INSIDE THE LIONS
Seniors Emily Ben-Jumbo and Taylor Anderson each have two double-doubles through eight games this season. Ben-Jumbo achieved the feat on Nov. 14 at Oklahoma State and Nov. 17 at UNLV. Anderson's came at UNLV and on Dec. 6 at Seattle. Each now have four career double-doubles.
Deanna Johnson led LMU in scoring the first four games of the season, surpassing the 20-point mark in three of them. The junior guard had six games of 20 points or more last season and now has 11 for her career.
LMU won its own Thanksgiving Classic for the sixth time in its 17-year history. This marked the first Classic title for LMU since 2008. The Lions also won in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2007.
Leslie Lopez-Wood joins the likes of Adrienne Slaughter (2001), Kate Murray (2002), Amanda DeCloud (2007) and Renahy Young (2008) as LMU's Thanksgiving Classic MVPs.
LMU's come-from-behind win over Bowling Green (Nov. 29) was the first time the Lions had trailed at halftime and won since a 76-74 overtime victory over Saint Mary's on Feb. 13, 2014 - a stretch of 11 games. The Lions trailed at halftime 17 times in 2013-14, winning just one of those contests (SMC).
Leslie Lopez-Wood has 22 threes through nine games this season. The sophomore set the LMU single-season record for threes last year, finishing her rookie campaign with 70 (an average of 2.3 per game). She now has 92 in one-plus seasons and is just seven threes shy of entering the LMU career top-10 list.
Deanna Johnson went 0-for-8 at NAU (Dec. 3), going scoreless for the first time since Nov. 20, 2013 versus Montana - a streak of 27 games. The junior guard finished without a point for just the third time in her 63 career LMU games.
