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LOS ANGELES - Despite a furious fourth-quarter comeback, the LMU women's basketball team fell short against Belmont, 79-72, Saturday afternoon in the final game of the 19th annual LMU Thanksgiving Classic at Gersten Pavilion.

Jackie Johnson finished with her fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Cheyanne Wallace tallied a team-high 20 points to go with seven rebounds. Andee Velasco matched a career-high with a 17 points and set a new career-best with nine assists. Belmont's (3-4) tandem of Kylee Smith and Darby Maggard registered 29 and 27 points, respectively.

Traililng by 14 to start the fourth quarter, LMU (2-4) made it a four-point game with just over four minutes remaining, but Belmont connected on three of its 12 3-pointers down the stretch to pull away with the win.

"I'm disappoint that we waited too late to really kick it into gear," said head coach Charity Elliott. "We went on some great runs, we had the momentum, we reeled off with some of our defensive efforts, but then we relaxed and they'd reeled off nine shots and there'd be wide-open threes."

Following five lead changes over the first five minutes, the Bruins caught fire from beyond-the-arc, connecting on a trio of 3-pointers during a two-minute stretch, igniting a 13-3 run to hold the scoreboard in their favor at 25-15 at the end of the opening quarter.

The Lions heated up offensively in the second frame as Johnson and Wallace combined for the opening nine Lion points, reducing Belmont's advantage to 33-24 with just under six minutes left in the half. A Wallace and-1 put the game within one-possession at 35-34 with 3:31 left. However, the Bruins continued to connect from deep, hitting a pair of triples to hold the upper hand at 43-36 after the opening half.

Following shooting 52.9 percent (9-for-17) in the second quarter, LMU's attack cooled down as it opened the third quarter shooting 0-8 from the field until NK Ilang netted two straight buckets and Johnson scored six of LMU's eight final points in the quarter. Despite holding the Bruins to shooting just 30.0 percent (6-for-20) in the third quarter, Belmont furthered its advantage to 62-48.

LMU fired on all cylinders to open the fourth stanza as it reeled off a 7-0 run, holding Belmont scoreless for 4:31 to make it a 62-55 contest. Velasco found Raychel Stanley in the paint to put LMU within striking distance at 63-59 with 4:19 to go, but Belmont hit three straight 3-pointers en route to escaping with a 79-72 victory.

"We just have work to do and we're going to keep doing it," stated Elliott. "I love what's happening with our inside play right now. We just have to get our guards rolling and hit some shots."

The Lions will return to the road on Tuesday at Seattle for a 7 p.m. clash.

LMU Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team

Darby Maggard So. Belmont
Bego Faz Davalos Jr. Fresno State
Jackie Johnson Sr. Loyola Marymount
Sabrina Engelstad Jr. UC Irvine

LMU Thanksgiving Classic MVP

Bego Faz Davalos Jr. Fresno State