Final Stats

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - In a tightly-contested contest featuring six lead changes and five ties in the fourth quarter, the LMU women's basketball team was edged by San Diego, 61-58, Thursday night at Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Leslie Lopez-Wood had the hot-hand in the opening half, posting 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting, including a 2-for-5 clip from deep as the Lions trailed 33-29 after the first. The Toreros went up by eight in the third quarter before LMU (7-11, 2-5 WCC) tied it up at start the final frame. Jackie Johnson put the Lions ahead by one at 57-56 with 41 seconds left, but San Diego's (9-8, 3-4 WCC) Katherine Hamilton delivered the go-ahead jumper with 12 ticks remaining to seal its 13th straight decision over LMU.

Johnson poured in a team-high 16 points and added 11 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. Lopez-Wood followed with 14 points and Cheyanne Wallace registered 12 points. Makenzie Cast added nine points off the bench, including a key and-1 in the fourth, to give the Lions their first lead of the game since the second quarter.

GAMEDAY STORYLINES

• LMU opened the game hitting 50.0 percent (3-for-6) from the floor, grabbing a five-point advantage, its largest of the game, at 9-4 midway through the first. From there, Lopez-Wood started to heat up, hitting two straight buckets to give the Lions the 15-14 edge at the end of the opening frame.

• Lopez-Wood continued to stroke it from the floor as she hit her fourth straight shot on a make from beyond-the-arc, giving LMU the 24-22 lead midway with six minutes left in the opening half. The Toreros responded with a triple of their own to reclaim the lead before closing out the final two minutes with a 6-2 spurt, holding a 33-29 advantage at the intermission.

• The Toreros opened the second half with a 7-2 run to pull ahead 39-31 until an 11-0 run by the Lions put them back on top, 40-39, after a fast break layup from Johnson. However, the Toreros once again spurted a run in the final two minutes of the quarter, this time a 9-2 streak, to hold the upper hand at 47-42.

• LMU opened the fourth frame with an 8-0 run as Cast intercepted a Torero pass and took it the distance for an and-1 layup, giving LMU the lead again at 50-47. Both teams exchanged baskets down the stretch, as neither could pull ahead by more than one possession.

• With less than a minute left and San Diego up 56-54, Johnson converted on a wild and-1 to put LMU ahead by one with 39 ticks left. San Diego's Hamilton responded with a jumper from just inside the arc to take the lead before Johnson connected on a free throw to tie it back up at 56-56.

• However, Hamilton had LMU's number once again, connecting on a jumper from the elbow to pull San Diego ahead 60-58. The Toreros defended their basket on LMU's final possession and sealed the game with another free throw, 61-58.

UP NEXT

The Lions will return to Gersten Pavilion on Saturday, Jan. 21 for a 2 p.m. contest against Santa Clara.

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