Feb. 14, 2015 Final Stats
BUY TICKETS | Complete 2014-15 Schedule | Inside LMU Women's Basketball | LMU on Facebook |
LOS ANGELES - Sophie Taylor poured in a career-high 29 points, including two crucial free throws with seven seconds remaining as the LMU women's basketball team hung on for a 77-73 win over Portland Saturday in Gersten Pavilion.
The win avenged a loss to the Pilots (4-21, 2-12 WCC) in Portland in the teams' first West Coast Conference meeting last month. It also snapped a six-game skid for LMU (4-22, 2-13 WCC).
Emily Ben-Jumbo joined Taylor in double figures, posting her fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Leslie Lopez-Wood added 16 points, including four threes, and Makenzie Cast had 12 points on four triples.
Cassandra Brown led the Pilots with 26 points while Jasmine Wooton and Kari Luttinen added 13 and 11, respectively.
The Lions led 41-38 at the half, but it was a 12-0 run midway through the second half that turned the tide. Trailing 59-53 with 10:31 to play, Lopez-Wood and Cast truck for back-to-back threes, tying the score at 59 apiece. Cast would then burry a second straight three, giving LMU a lead it would never relinquish.
Out of the under-eight media timeout Taylor earned a trip to the charity stripe where she sank two foul shots. She would hit one of two from the line to compete the 12-point run and give LMU a 65-59 advantage with 6:34 to play.
With the Lions leading by four, 69-65, Brown drained her fifth three of the game to pull the Pilots to within one. But Taylor responded with a three of her own, pushing the Lion lead to 72-68 with 1:09 on the clock.
Portland would close the gap to two twice in the final minute, but Lopez-Wood and Taylor each sank a pair of free throws to keep the Pilots at bay.
The Lions shot 40 percent from the field in the win, including 48 percent in the first half as they built a 41-38 lead. Alyson Lock dished out a career-high nine assists as LMU finished with 20 helpers on 24 field goals. They also turned the ball over just 12 times.
Next up for LMU is its final road trip of the season as they travel to face San Francisco on Thursday, Feb. 19 and Santa Clara on Saturday, Feb. 21. The regular season then culminates on Saturday, Feb. 28 in Gersten Pavilion against PCH Cup rival Pepperdine.
