LOS ANGELES, Calif., -- The Loyola Marymount women's basketball team closed out a historic 2018-19 season led by record breaking seniors, ending with an 18-15 record, while going 10-8 in conference play, finishing at a tie for fifth in the West Coast Conference.
The Lions stellar season started from their home opener, where the team picked up a ranked win over No. 23 UCLA, 69-63. LMU's second ranked win came after knocking off No. 25 BYU 61-58 at home.
Three Lion seniors re-wrote LMU Record Books this season, as they became the program's new All-Time leaders across several categories.
Andee Velasco became LMU's All-Time leader in assists after tallying up six against BYU, leading the Lions to their upset. Velasco ended her career with 529, passing the No. 2 spot by 53 assists.
Bree Alford became LMU's All-Time leader in rebounds after she boarded six against San Francisco. Alford's last game with the Lions was one for the books, as she got her 1,000 rebound against Idaho in LMU's WNIT appearance.
Gabby Green is LMU's All-Time leader in steals average, as she averaged 3.0 a game. Green is also the first athlete under head coach
Charity Elliott to sign with a WNBA team, as she signed with the Los Angeles Sparks in mid-April. The senior heads to the sparks averaging 13.3 points per game and 4.1 assists per game.
Other Lion standouts include
Chelsey Gipson, who lead the team in points with a total of 434, averaging 16.1 a game. Gipson was named to the WCC All-Conference First Team and was also named the WCC of the Week for the week of February 11
th.
Jasmine Jones proved to be incredibly versatile for the Lions, as she led the team in field goal percentage at .477, while also leading the team in blocks with 12 on the season. Jones was named the WCC Player of the Week for the week of November 19.
Standouts on the court as well as the classroom, Alford and Velasco were named to the WCC All-Academic Team, while
Cierra Belvin,
Josie Buckingham and
Bianca Velasco were named honorable mention.
The Lions made it to the second round of the West Coast Conference Championships, where the team cruised past San Francisco, but then fell to Saint Mary's.
After putting together an impressive regular season with two ranked wins, the Lions were selected to play in the WNIT, the first post-season appearance since 2004, and the first WNIT appearance since 2001.
LMU put up a fight in its first post-season stint in 15 years, but fell in the first round to Idaho.
The Lions were led by head coach Charity Elliot, who just completed her sixth season with the Lions. Elliott is assisted by
Chris Elliott,
Jhasmin Player,
Jasmin Holliday,
Emily Ben-Jumbo and
Daisy Feder.
- Team
- Two ranked wins, No. 23 UCLA (69-63), No. 25 BYU (61-58)
- Postseason for the first time since 2004
- First WNIT appearance since 2001
- Bree Alford
- LMU All-Time Rebounding Leader with 1,000
- All-WCC Honorable Mention
- WCC All-Academic Team
- Andee Velasco
- LMU All-Time Assists Leader with 529
- WCC All-Academic Honorable Mention
- Chelsey Gipson
- WCC All-First Team
- WCC Player of the Week (2/11/19)
- Jasmine Jones
- WCC Player of the Week (11/19/18)
- Gabby Green
- LMU All-Time Steals Average Leader, with 3.0 per game
- Signed with Los Angeles Sparks
- WCC All-Academic Honorable Mentions
