Jan. 22, 2016 2015-16 Schedule | Give to LMU Athletics | Season Tickets | LMU on Facebook |
SAN DIEGO - A two-game West Coast Conference road swing continues at co-league leader San Diego on Saturday, Jan. 23. The Lions (7-12, 3-5 WCC) and Toreros (17-2, 7-1 WCC) tip off from the Jenny Craig Pavilion at 2 p.m. The game will air live on theW.tv.
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LMU at San Diego - Saturday, Jan. 23 @ 2:00 p.m. - Jenny Craig Pavilion
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INSIDE THE LIONS
LMU has dropped its last three straight, their first stretch of consecutive setbacks since opening the season with three straight losses.
The Lions recently had three consecutive games all decided by a single possession. They beat Pacific (Jan. 9) by three on a buzzer-beating three-pointer, dropped a two-point decision in overtime against San Francisco (Jan. 14) and could not get off a potential game-winner in a one-point setback to Santa Clara (Jan. 16).
LMU's overtime final against San Francisco on Jan. 14 was the first overtime game of the season. The setback dropped the Lions to 11-14 all-time in overtime games.
The Lions picked up their seventh win of the season on Jan. 9 at Pacific, matching last year's season total of wins.
The seventh victory came 16 games into the season marking the fastest the Lions have reached seven wins since Head Coach Charity Elliott's first season in 2012-13 when it took them 14 games to achieve the feat.
Sophie Taylor's career-high 17 rebounds at Saint Mary's on Jan. 7 are the most in a single game since Mackenzie Kerins hauled in an LMU record 25 on Jan. 25, 2014 at Portland.
LMU's Jan. 2 win over rival Pepperdine marked three straight against the Waves and 7-of-8 during fourth-year Head Coach Charity Elliott's tenure.
LMU's seven-point loss to Gonzaga on Dec. 23 was the closest final score against the perennial WCC power since Feb. 7, 2008 when the Lions won 75-60.
LMU's 62-52 win over Portland on Dec. 21, 2015 was the 400th victory in the program's history, dating back to the 1981-82 season when they first began competing as an official intercollegiate program.
LMU's road win at UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 4 came just eight games into the season (and the fourth road test of the year) marking the earliest the Lions have picked up that first road W during Head Coach Charity Elliott's tenure.
ABOUT THE SAN DIEGO TOREROS (17-2, 7-1 WCC)
San Diego carries the league's best overall record at 17-2 and is tied atop the WCC standings (with BYU) with a 7-1 mark. The Toreros improved to 10-2 at home on Thursday night with a 74-55 win over visiting Pepperdine. Sisters Malina and Maya Hood lead USD in nearly every statistical category. The former averages 19.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg and had a team-high 45 three-pointers. The latter averages 14.7 ppg and 8.7 rpg. The duo had also combined for 95 of the team's 180 steals. The Toreros also get 9.9 ppg from Sydney Williams and 4.3 apg from Cori Woodward. They average +3.8 rpg as a team and commit an average of 48 fewer turnovers than their opponents.
SERIES HISTORY
San Diego holds a 42-27 advantage in the all-time series. The Lions' last win was a 70-53 final at the Jenny Craig Pavilion in 2011. The Toreros have won the last 10 straight. Last year, USD won the home-and-home series with scores of 67-59 in Los Angeles and 68-49 in San Diego.
TRIO APPROACHING THE 1,000-POINT CLUB
LMU seniors Deanna Johnson and Sophie Taylor and junior Leslie Lopez-Wood are all looking to join the 1,000-point club. It is an elite marker at LMU with just 13 members to date. Johnson currently sits at 935 points for her career, Lopez-Wood has 876 and Taylor is not far behind with 860. The last time two players in the same graduating class eclipsed the 1,000-point mark was 2004 when both Kate Murray (1,566 career points) and Adrianne Slaughter (1,231 career points) achieved the feat. The only time previous to that was 1991 when three players achieved the feat together - Lynn Flanagan (1,436 points), Kristen Bruich (1,144 points) and Tricia Gibson (1,084 points).
500 REBOUNDS AND COUNTING
Senior Sophie Taylor pulled down 10 rebounds on Jan. 21 at BYU, bringing her career total rebounds to 516. She is the 15th Lion in program history to eclipse the 500-rebound mark. She is also looking to join an even more elite group as she nears the 1,000-point mark as well. Just six have eclipsed both the 1,000-point mark and the 500-rebound mark. She would join the ranks of Tricia Gibson (1988-91), Tanya White (1992-95), Bryn Britton (1998-02), Kate Murray (1999-04), Adrianne Slaughter (2000-04) and Alex Cowling (2008-13).
AMONG THE WCC RANKS
In West Coast Conference games played through Jan. 16, LMU ranks first in blocks per game (4.4), second in 3-pt FGs per game (6.4), third in steals per game (9.4), fourth in assists per game (14.3), fifth in scoring (67.3) and fifth in free-throw percentage (70.7). Individually, Cheyanne Wallace leads the league in blocked shots (2.2 per game) while Deanna Johnson is first in free-throw percentage (87.9). Sophie Taylor is fifth in rebounding (8.6 per game), Bree Alford is sixth in rebounding (8.5 per game) and Andee Velasco is fourth in assists (3.8 per game).
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