Jan. 22, 2015 Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
BUY TICKETS | Complete 2014-15 Schedule | Inside LMU Women's Basketball | LMU on Facebook |
LOS ANGELES - There's no place like home. Back in the friendly confines of Gersten Pavilion to open a four-game West Coast Conference homestand, the LMU women's basketball hit a blistering 64 percent from the field in the first half Thursday night, cruising to an 82-57 win over visiting Santa Clara.
The victory got a huge monkey off the Lions' backs, marking their first WCC win of the season, and snapping a 13-game skid.
Four Lions scored in double figures, led by Leslie Lopez-Wood who poured in a career-high 24 points. The sophomore guard hit 9-for-10 front he field, including 5-of-6 from deep, to go along with three assists, two rebounds and two steals. Sophie Taylor hit 6-of-9 form the field and extended her free throw streak to 24 straight with a 2-for-2 performance from the stripe, finishing with 14 points.
Emily Ben-Jumbo had 15 points and Makenzie Cast had 13. Bree Alford came just shy of her first career double-double, finishing with eight points, nine rebounds and four assists off the bench.
Nici Gilday had 12 points to lead the Broncos and Morgan McGwire had 10 off the bench as Santa Clara shot 35 percent for the game, including just 3-of-15 from three.
The Lions (3-16, 1-7 WCC) broke open a tight affair midway through the first half, going a perfect 7-for-7 from the field and 6-for-9 from the free-throw line over the final 7:28 to open up a 45-31 halftime advantage.
A Cast three with 8:51 remaining in the half, gave the Lions a 24-18 advantage. Santa Clara responded with a pair of free throws, but the Lions came back with a Bree Alford layup courtesy a Cast assist. Sophie Taylor would knock down a long jumper and, following two Gilday free throws, Ben-Jumbo scored in the paint and Lopez-Wood drained a three, opening up LMU's first double-digit lead, 32-22.
A Lopez-Wood free throw with 20 seconds on the clock opened up LMU's largest lead of the half, 45-29, before an Emily Wolph layup cut the spread to 14 headed into the break.
LMU's hot shooting would continue in the second half as an Alford layup opened up a 20-point advantage, 57-37, five minutes in. A Lopez-Wood three with 7:23 to play pushed the Lion lead to a game-high 28, 74-46, and Head Coach Charity Elliott would empty her bench down the stretch.
The Lions matched a season-high with 23 assists on their 30 field goals. They finished the night 30-for-55 from the field (54.5 percent) and 8-for-18 from beyond the arc (44.4 percent).
LMU returns to action Saturday at 2 p.m., hosting San Francisco in Gersten Pavilion.
