Feb. 20, 2015
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LOS ANGELES - In its final regular-season road game of the 2014-15 season, LMU will be in the hunt for a season sweep of Santa Clara as the two teams tip off in the Leavey Center on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2 p.m.
FOLLOW THE LIONS
LMU at Santa Clara - Saturday, Feb. 21 @ 2:00 pm - Leavey Center
Live Stats | Watch (SantaClaraBroncos.com) | Listen (LMU Sports Network)
2014-15 Media Almanac | Game Notes
ABOUT THE SANTA CLARA BRONCOS (10-14, 5-10 WCC)
The Broncos won their third straight game Thursday night, earning an 84-66 victory over visiting Pepperdine, improving to 10-14 overall and 5-10 in WCC play. Nici Gilday led all scorers with 28 points, including six threes. Gilday averages 19.3 ppg for the Broncos, ranking second among all WCC players in scoring. Marie Bertholdt averages 9.8 ppg and a team-high 7.3 rpg as Santa Clara holds a +4.5 rebounding edge over its opponents.
SERIES HISTORY
LMU and Santa Clara have battled tightly the past few seasons, splitting the home-and-home series each of the last three years. After each winning on their home court for two years straight, the table turned last year as each won in the other's home arena. The Lions dropped a 69-65 final in Gersten Pavilion on Jan. 4, 2014 only to steal back home court advantage with an 88-74 win over the Broncos in Santa Clara on Feb. 27, 2014. The Lions have now won two straight over the Broncos after clinching a huge, 82-57, win in this season's first meeting on Jan. 22. Leslie Lopez-Wood poured in a then-career-high 24 points to lead four Lions in double figures. Santa Clara leads the all-time series 44-22.
LESLIE'S LONG RANGE
Leslie Lopez-Wood drained five threes on Thursday at San Francisco, bringing her sophomore season total to 69, one shy of her own single-season school record of 70. With two regular-season games (and at least one WCC Tournament game) remaining on the slate, the North Hollywood native is set to raise the bar for a second straight season. She also continues to climb the career-three point list as her second three Thursday night moved her past former teammate Hazel Ramirez (2010-14, 135 career threes) into sole possession of fourth place in LMU's record book. Lopez Wood will enter Saturday's game at Santa Clara with 139 career threes. Sitting in third is Amanda Patton (2004-07) with 154 while the all-time LMU record stands at 170 (Renahy Young, 2007-10).
TAYLOR MADE
Junior Sophie Taylor had a back-to-back big games for the Lions last week, averaging 25 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2 steals and 1.5 blocks per game as the Lions earned a 1-1 split in WCC play. Against league-leader Gonzaga on Feb. 12, Taylor led the Lions with 21 points on 6-of-10 from the field and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. She added a game-high nine boards and a pair of steals in the setback effort against the Zags. On Feb. 14, in LMU's Play4Kay breast cancer awareness game, Taylor poured in a career-high 29 points, including a pair of free throws that would seal the win, in a 77-73 victory over Portland. She went 8-of-17 from the field, including 4-of-7 from three, and 9-of-11 from the charity stripe as the Lions snapped a six-game skid.
LIONS LAST LINE
Leslie Lopez-Wood poured in a career-high 25 points and four total Lions scored in double figures, but San Francisco would clinch a good old-fashion shootout, 87-75, Thursday evening at War Memorial Gymnasium. The Lions hit 31-of-64 from the field (48 percent), including 10-of-25 from three, but managed just seven trips to the charity stripe. San Francisco was 54 percent from the field (30-for-56), including 9-for-18 from three, but held the huge edge with an 18-for-19 performance from the free-throw line. Finding themselves in a 14-3 hole in the game's early goings, the Lions rolled off seven straight points on a Lopez-Wood three and two-point bucket, and a Taylor layup, forcing a USF called timeout. Taj Winston halted LMU's streak with a layup, but Makenzie Cast responded with five straight points, giving the Lions their first lead of the night, 16-15. A Lopez-Wood layup capped a 15-2 run as the Lions led, 18-15, with 11:31 to play in the first half. Back-to-back threes by USF's Anna Seilund put the lead back in the hands of the Dons, and they would not trail again in the period. The teams would go back and forth, both hitting better than 50 percent in the frame. A Bree Alford jumper would knot the score at 27 apiece with 6:50 on the clock, and Lopez-Wood would drain her 136th career three with 4:08 to play, again tying the score, 30-30. Joining Lopez-Wood in double figures were Emily Ben-Jumbo with 15 points, Cast with 14 and Sophie Taylor with 13. Taylor added a game-high 11 boards for her third double-double of the season. Alyson Lock chipped in seven assists on the night. USF would lead for the entire second half, continuing to fend off LMU's runs. A 7-0 Don run late in the game opened up a 69-59 advantage for the home squad. The Lions would battle back, trimming the spread back down to three, 71-68, on a Ben-Jumbo layup with 2:56 to play. But that was as close as the Lions would get as USF closed things out from the free-throw line.
