Final Stats

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Fueled by a hot-shooting first half, the LMU women's basketball cruised to a 69-54 triumph over Portland Saturday afternoon at Gersten Pavilion.

Jackie Johnson recorded her seventh double-double of the season, posting game-highs of 14 points and 12 rebounds. Leslie Lopez-Wood tallied 13 points to go with five assists, while Andee Velasco poured in 10 points and four assists. Cierra Belvin had a solid all-around game in her first career start, notching four points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

LMU (7-10, 2-4 WCC) connected on 48.5 percent (16-for-33) in the first half and shot 43.5 percent (27-62) for the game, while owning a 30-14 advantage in points in the paint. The Lions held Portland (3-14, 1-5 WCC) scoreless for the final 6:34 of the first half to take a 39-25 command into the locker room and wouldn't be tested in the second half, securing their second conference victory.

GAMEDAY STORYLINES

• Lopez-Wood snapped six of LMU's first 10 points as it held a two-point lead midway through the quarter. After six ties and three lead changes, the Lions eked out a 22-18 advantage at the end of the opening frame.

• Johnson and Andee Velasco combined to score the opening 11 points of the quarter before Raychel Stanley and Belvin netted the final two baskets of the half off Pilot turnovers to further LMU's command to 39-25 at the break.

• Back-to-back triples from Velasco and Lopez-Wood furthered the lead to 45-25 until Portland responded with an 8-0 run to come within 12 midway through the third. However, Shelbi Aimonetti and Lopez-Wood connected on two more 3-pointers, notching the Lions second-straight quarter with a 50.0 percent shooting clip to pull the Lions ahead, 56-41.

• LMU cruised in the final quarter as all 10 players got on the board, securing a convincing 69-54 victory.

• The Lion bench chipped in with 19 points, led by Stanley with nine points and five rebounds.

FROM COACH ELLIOTT

• "Every single game in this conference is going to be a dogfight. I'm really proud of how we responded after a tough one against Gonzaga. To come back tonight and play well and to have a lot of different people do a lot of good things. I really thought that Cierra Belvin was a huge difference maker, whether she's in the stat sheet or not."

• "We need for Jackie to play like that and she's certainly capable. She understands the game and her teammates are doing an amazing job of finding her and giving her opportunities, and she has taken advantage of those opportunities."

• "Our job is to continue to get better, find some chemistry. I thought Cierra really really stepped up and did some great things for us."

GAMEDAY PHOTOS

UP NEXT

LMU will resume WCC play next week as it heads south to San Diego for a 6 p.m. bout.

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