The Lions defeated their third Big West team, Long Beach State, in a 71-62 victory Friday night. Though the 49ers put up a fight, LMU was able to hang on to their lead throughout a close match.

LMU led the entire game, but the Beach kept the margins tight. "Long Beach does a really good job of mixing things up and making things difficult", according to Head Coach Charity Elliott, but the Lions were up to the challenge. "We were able to execute what we needed depending on what they did", Coach Elliott adds. 

LMU controlled the first half thanks to an outstanding performance from Jasmine Jones, who scored half the teams points in the first quarter. The Lions also dominated in the rebound department, tallying up 23 rebounds in the first half. Coach Elliott believes that LMU's rebounding was the key to their victory, as they "gave themselves a lot of second opportunities while holding Long Beach to one." The Lions ended the half with an 11 point lead, 41-30. 

LMU hit a bit of a scoring slump in the third quarter, with Long Beach outscoring the Lions 17-12. However, LMU picked it up in the fourth, with Gabby Green scoring the Lion's first eight points of the quarter. She was soon followed by Jones who scored six in a row for the Lions, assuring their victory. 

Jones and Green were the obvious key performers of the game. Jones went 10-14 from the field, raking up a season high 23 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes of play. Green put up 19 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists. Coach Elliott also praised senior Andee Velasco for leading the charge from the top and giving the Lions 8 assists. 

The Lions will return to action next week as they travel to Puerto Rico to play in the Puerto Rico Classic on Dec. 19-21.