LOS ANGELES, Calif., -- The Loyola Marymount women's basketball team took down the Saint Mary's 69-56, snapping the Gaels' four-game winning streak on Pride in Pink Day in Gersten Pavilion. 
 
"Saint Mary's is a really good team, I thought our players did a really great job of focusing on our game plan and doing their job," said head coach Charity Elliott. "Obviously we still have to work on rebounding and do a better job with that. I really thought they focused defensively on what we had prepared for."
 
The Lions (16-11, 9-6) started dominating the Gaels (18-9, 11-5) right at tip-off, as the first basket of the game was a three-pointer from Andee Velasco. The Lions maintained the lead the rest of the half. LMU was up by 15 at one point in the first quarter, their largest lead of the game. 
 
Gabby Green checked in during the first quarter, her first game back in over a month. She left the first quarter with two assists and a rebound. 
 
The Lions maintained momentum in the second quarter, as Chelsey Gipson made a three-point basket right away, the first basket of the second quarter. LMU closed the half up 34-27. 
 
LMU had to battle third quarter, as SMC went on a 9-0 run and tied things up, and then took the lead. After two lead changes, the Lions responded when Bree Alford made a three-pointer to take the lead. The Gaels never took the lead back. 
 
Up 48-42 going into the fourth quarter, the Lions took their double-digit lead back after back-to-back layups from Gipson. LMU played until the end and won 69-56. 
 
Gipson led the team in points with 25, nine of those points came from three-point field goals. Jasmine Jones led the team in rebounds with seven, while also putting 11 points on the board, while Alford had 10 points and six rebounds. Velasco led the team in assists with four. Green had eight points, two rebounds and three assists. 
 
"I felt like we had a lot of people do a lot of good things tonight, it's always good having Gabby back out there, I just felt like everybody stepped up. They came out in the third quarter, went on a 9-0 run and we responded, we didn't fall, we bounced back and that is a huge thing for this team," said Elliott. 
 
The Lions shot 37 percent from the field, compared to the Gaels' 35 percent, while the Lions also outshot SMC from the free-throw line, 73 percent to their 62 percent. 
 
SMC had 28 turnovers, while LMU had 13. The Lions also led in steals 13-7, as well as assists, 17-10. 
 
The Lions will be back on the court this Saturday to take on Pacific. Saturday's game will be Senior Day, where seniors Gabby Green, Bree Alford, Andee Velasco and Bianca Velasco will be honored before tip-off.