LOS ANGELES – The LMU women's basketball team returned to the court on Thursday night, defeating the Point Loma Sea Lions 81-53 in an exhibition matchup.
 
The Lions trailed by three after the first quarter, 18-15, but exploded in the second to gain control of the contest. LMU went on a 12-0 run to open quarter two and went on to outscore Point Loma 19-3 in the frame to lead 34-21 at the half. The Lions forced 16 first-half turnovers and snagged nine steals.
 
Sophomore Jasmine Jones had seven points and three boards while senior Gabby Green added six points and three steals in the third as LMU extended its lead to 58-33 moving into the final frame.
 
The Lions continued their strong play in the fourth. Senior Bree Alford took charge in the last two periods, notching eight points and five boards in the second half to help LMU keep its commanding lead. Alford finished the game with 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals.
 
"I thought we came out with a lot of jitters, and Point Loma was ready to go," Lions' head coach Charity Elliott said. "Once we got into a rhythm and started picking up our defensive intensity things started rolling a little bit more. We were able to create offense from our defense, which is what we're always trying to do."
 
"I thought we had a lot of different people contribute," Elliott continued "I wanted to give everybody an opportunity tonight. We're still trying to figure out our rotations and know who is going to step up and be ready. I thought we had some really good individual performances and some nice defensive moments getting in the passing lane, getting deflections and steals and getting some easy baskets from that."
 
Jones led all scorers with 16 points to go along with nine rebounds. Green racked up 13 points and a game-high seven steals. Junior Raychel Stanley was the fourth Lion to finish in double figures with 10 points in the win. Senior Andee Velasco was LMU's assist leader on the night with five, and had seven points and a team-high-tying two blocks along with Josie Buckingham who also had two.
 
"We were a bit slow as a team in the first half," Jones said. "We weren't playing with enough energy. I knew I had to bring some energy in the second half. We all got on the same page coming out of halftime and started to get easy looks. Everyone contributed in the second half and we played much better."
 
LMU's smothering defense led Point Loma to commit 28 turnovers on the night as the Lions secured 19 steals. In her first appearance for LMU following her transfer from Marquette, sophomore Meghan Mandel chipped in nine points with four rebounds. Sophomore Chelsey Gipson added seven points for the Lions.
 
LMU hosts UCLA in the team's regular season home opener this coming Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. as part of a double-header with the men's team. The Lion men take on Westcliff University at 5 p.m. to start off the basketball-filled night at Gersten Pavilion.