LOS ANGELES – The Lions fell short to the No. 17 Gonzaga Bulldogs Thursday night, 72-48, inside Gersten Pavilion.
 
"I'm proud of the fight we had", said Coach Aarika Hughes.
 
Maya Hernandez, a freshman forward, set a career record by scoring 12 points for the Lions against the Zags, making 6 out of 9 shots from the field.
 
"Maya reported to LMU with a championship mentality, a worth ethic and every single day she's going to come in and go to work", said Hughes. 
 
Soufia Inoussa chipped in with nine points.
 
Alexis Mark logged in nine rebounds while Sydney Gandy led with six assists.
 
The Bulldogs took an early lead on the Lions leading by five within the first five minutes. The Lions were playing with a lot of hustle, but faced offensive challenges, managing to score only six points in the quarter. The Lions field performance was 3-14, contrasting with the Bulldogs' 8-18.
 
During the second quarter, Nicole Rodriguez's fadeaway jumper brought the Lions to the 20-point mark, yet they remained behind by 13 points. The Bulldogs sealed the quarter with the final basket, resulting in a halftime score of 35-22.
 
In the third quarter, the Lions sparked on both offense and defense, narrowing a double-digit lead to nine points on multiple occasions. In the final minute of the quarter, a free throw by Hamilton reduced the deficit to eight, with the score at 46-38. The Lions' defense limited the Bulldogs to a 3-10 field goal record. However, LMU faced challenges with fouls, allowing Gonzaga to go 7-11 from the free-throw line.

Unfortunately, the issue of fouling persisted into the fourth quarter, with the Bulldogs making 5 out of 6 free throws on top of achieving a 69.2% field goal success rate. The Lions offensive momentum began to decline, ultimately resulting in a victory for the Bulldogs.
 
The Lions will take on the San Diego Toreros this Saturday, Jan. 20, at 2 PM in Gersten Pavilion.

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