Nov. 10, 2016 LINKS: 2016-17 Women's Basketball Tickets | #LIONSTRONG | Give to LMU Athletics | LMU on Facebook | LMU on Twitter
LOS ANGELES - For the 14th consecutive year the LMU women's basketball team will hit the road for the season opener, this time traveling to Pullman, Washington to face the Washing- ton State Cougars on Thursday, Nov. 11. Tip-off from Beasley Coliseum is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Season Openers
This is the 14th consecutive season that LMU will be opening away from Gersten Pavilion and the Lions are 5-17 all-time when opening the season on the road. LMU's last season-opening victory came in 2008, when they beat Hawaii, 63-47, in the opening game of the Bank of Hawaii Invitational in Hilo, Hawaii. All-time, LMU is 13- 22 in season openers.
Preseason Predictions
LMU was predicted to finish sixth overall in the WCC women's basketball preseason poll, as voted on by the league's 10 head coaches.
Related Link: Women's Basketball Selected Sixth in WCC Preseason Poll
Gonzaga edged BYU for the top spot by one point, earning 76 points and five first-place votes. The Cougars received four first-place votes and Saint Mary's nabbed the final first-place vote and 66 overall points. San Diego (58) and Santa Clara (44) checked in ahead of LMU (36), who earned its highest ranking since 2013, when it was also selected to finish sixth.
Defending WCC tournament champion San Francisco was narrowed by the Lions by one point to hold the seventh spot, while it beat out Pacific by a one-point margin as the Tigers penned the eight spot. Pepperdine and Portland finished in a tie for ninth with 13 points apiece.
Last Time Out
Taking Gersten Pavilion for the first time in the 2016-17 season, the LMU women's basketball used a strong second-half performance to fuel a 98-73 victory over the The Master's in an exhibition contest Tuesday night.
Jackie Johnson paced the Lions with a team-high 18 points and hauled in six rebounds, while Cheyanne Wallace finished with 17 points and seven rebounds. Makenzie Cast chipped in with 15 points off the bench and Andee Velasco dished out a game-high five assists to go with nine points.
Recap: Lions Roll to 98-73 Exhibition Win Over The Master's
Where We Left Off
For the second consecutive season, LMU bowed out in the quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament to second-seed Saint Mary's, 85-71.
Lopez-Wood led the Lions with 18 points, including a final jumper with 22 seconds remaining that pushed the junior guard over the 1,000 career-point mark. She became the third Lion this season (along with seniors Deanna Johnson and Sophie Taylor) to join the 1000-point club, marking just the second time in program history three teammates achieved the feat in the same season. That one previous time came in 1991.
Cheyenne Wallace added 17 points and eight rebounds off the bench, closing out a stellar rookie season with her 15th double-digit performance.
Recap: Second-Seed Gaels Prevail Over Lions
From Downtown
Senior Leslie Lopez-Wood broke the all-time 3-point career record a season ago and holds 211 to her name entering the 2016-17 season. Lopez-Wood has lead the Lions in triples in each of her three seasons, and also set the single season mark with 82 makes from beyond-the-arc a season ago.
Dishing it Out
Andee Velasco set the LMU freshman record with 125 assists a season ago, which also ranks No. 6 all-time in a single season.
On the Boards
Bree Alford hauled down a LMU sophomore record 252 rebounds, good for second on the team and sixth in the WCC, while also ranking No. 8 all-time in a single season.
Leading the Charge
Charity Elliott begins her fifth year at the helm of the program. The 2016-17 squad features three seniors as Shelbi Aimonetti and Leslie Lopez-Wood return to the court, while Jackie Johnson will make her debut as a Lion after sitting out due to transfer rules last year.
Bree Alford, who lead the team with 116 rebounds a season ago, and Makenzie Cast round out the returning juniors, while an experienced sophomore class returns. Cheyanne Wallace, All-WCC freshman team selection, is the Lions leading returning scorer after averaging 11.2 points per game in her rookie season. Fellow sophomore Andee Velasco also posted double digit scoring figures with 10.5 ppg, while Bianca Velasco and NK Ilang were key players off the bench.
Fresh Faces
Raychel Stanley, Cierra Belvin and Brittney Reed will look to make instant impacts this season. Stanley had a standout performance off the bench in LMU's exhibition against The Master's, nearing a double-double as she connected on 4-of-4 shots from the floor and finished with nine points to go with eight rebounds.
Related Link: Women's Basketball Signees Complete Standout Senior Seasons
Scouting Washington State
The Cougars return four of five starts from a season ago, including Borislava Hristova, who lead Washington State with 16.3 points per game and was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and broke the Cougars freshman records in 20-point games, total points, scoring average, field goals made and free throw percentage.
2017 WCC Championships
The 2017 West Coast Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships return to the bright lights of Las Vegas and Orleans Arena on March 2 through March 7 as 20 teams battle for two spots in the NCAA Tournament. Visit WCCSports.com today for complete championship and ticket information.
2016-17 Basketball Tickets on Sale!
This season, LMU continues its partnership with TicketsWest! Individual game, special promotional, and season tickets to the 2016-17 LMU basketball season are on sale NOW through the online ticketing system and all events can be done through LMULions.com.
