Box Score PORTLAND – Loyola Marymount women's basketball team defeated the University of Portland Pilots on the road at the Chiles Center, 61-59, as Head Coach Aarika Hughes faces her former high school coach Michael Meek.

The Lions started off slow as the Pilots were able to get ahead 13-6 mid-way through the first quarter. The full-court press kept LMU from gaining momentum early on.
 
Despite falling behind, the Lions were able to shoot 50% from the field in the first quarter. Jasmine Jones was able to get four of the Lions' first six points, to keep them afloat.

With the score, 17-10, headed in to the second, the Lions were determined to fight through the press. Cassandra Gordon hit two straight shots mid-way through to cut the lead down to nine.
 
Alexis Mark went three for three from the field in the quarter, playing phenomenal in the paint.
 
Pilots' offense shot 58.3% from the field and 66.7% from the perimeter, while the Lions fought all-around to shorten the deficit.  
 
At halftime the Lions were down, 34-22, turning the ball over a total of 13 times.
 
The Lions started the second half with a chip on their shoulder. Shooting 57% mid-way through the third quarter, Jasmines Jones and Ariel Johnson lead the charge with contributions from Nicole Rodriguez and Cassandra Gordon.
 
LMU also forced five turnovers early in the third quarter to cut the lead to just seven points. They were destroying the Pilots on the boards as well, 23-15.
 
Khari Clark brought the energy with two clutch baskets in the paint, cutting the lead to just five with 20 seconds left in the quarter.
 
Headed into the fourth with the score, 45-40, things became interesting at the Chiles Center.
 
Ariel Johnson caught fire scoring six out of eights straight points to give the Lions the lead. Clark continued to make clutch plays in the paint and on defense.
 
Johnson and Jones provided excellent leadership on the court for the Lions as they controlled momentum with two minutes left.
 
Turnovers started to hurt the Lions as the energy at Chiles Center went up and down. Pilots went up by two after hitting a three pointer from the corner.
 
However, Johnson would not give up, scoring again to tie the game. She had 13 points alone in the fourth quarter with 39.1 seconds remaining.
 
Lions get a clutch stop on defense, calling a timeout with 14.2, to draw up a play to win the game.
 
With 4.9 seconds left, Jones gets the ball at the top of the paint and drops the floater to win the game, 61-59.

Johnson finished the game with 19 points, 4 assists, while Gordon finished 71% from the field with 11 points. Jones also performed amazing with 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists. 
 
The Lions are now 3-7 in the conference, and 8-11 overall.

The Lions will play Portland for game 2 on Monday, Feb 7.  The conference game can be seen on the WCC Network, with tip-off from Chiles Center set for 2 pm.