Nov. 17, 2015 Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
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LOS ANGELES - A buzzer-beating layup by Cal State Fullerton sent LMU women's basketball to a 75-73 setback in their home opener Tuesday night in Gersten Pavilion.
The Lions fall to 0-2 on the season while the Titans improve to 2-0 overall.
Clinging to a 73-70 lead following a Leslie Lopez-Wood layup with just over a minute remaining, the Lions deftly defended the Titans and securing a defensive rebound off a missed three-point attempt. Forced to foul, the Titans put Sophie Taylor on the line with 28 seconds remaining.
Taylor would miss both free throws, however, and Cal State Fullerton responded with a Jade Vega three to tie the game. A missed layup by Taylor on the potential final possession sent a long rebound to Vega who went the length of the court for an uncontested layup.
"We had two great looks and nine times out of 10 Sophie (Taylor) makes that shot," said Head Coach Charity Elliott. "And on a long rebound we didn't have anyone back. It's a tough one to lose, we had a lot of players play very very well tonight."
The Lions were paced by 15 points from freshman Bianca Velasco, who drained 5-of-6 from deep. Taylor tallied her second straight double-double, finishing with 14 points and 11 boards, but had an off night from the field hitting just 4-of-16. Bree Alford chipped in 10 points and NK Ilang had eight rebounds off the bench.
Vega finished the night with 13 points while Michelle Berry led all scorers with 24 points and Dani Craig added 22 for the Titans.
LMU led for nearly the entire first half, opening up a 40-27 spread on a Velasco three with 2:39 to play in the second quarter. Cal State Fullerton would close out the half on a 9-3 run, however. The Titans carried that momentum into the third quarter, whittling the Lion lead away at the quarter's conclusion before taking their first lead since the opening minutes at the 9:49 mark of the fourth.
"We are very deep and we are becoming deeper," said Elliott. "We're a young team, we will learn from this and keep fighting."
Back-to-back tournaments are up next for the Lions, beginning with the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic Nov. 20-22. LMU opens play in Oahu on Friday, Nov. 20 against host Hawaii. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. Hawaii time, 9 p.m. Pacific.
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