MORAGA, Calif. – LMU women's basketball's is now one of three West Coast Conference teams with nine wins in league play this season. The Lions earned a hard-fought road win at Saint Mary's on Thursday night in the only regular season meeting of the season between the two programs. LMU defeated the Gaels, 75-69, to match Oregon State and Gonzaga with nine wins in WCC play.
 
Maya Hernandez completed an and-1 at the 6:42 mark of the first quarter to start a 7-0 run and push the Lions ahead by five. Hernandez scored a team-high 15 points and led the Lions with five rebounds.
 
The Lions led by as many as six points twice in the first quarter, first on a three by Ivana Krajina at 3:23 and again on a jumper by Carly Heidger with 2:56 on the clock. Krajina scored 10 points with a pair of threes and Heidger scored a dozen.
 
The Gaels pulled within two at the end of the first, despite LMU not committing a first-quarter turnover. LMU led 37-30 at intermission.
 
Saint Mary's took a lead in the second quarter before Krajina nailed another three pointer just before the midway point of the period. 
 
The Lions ended the second on a 7-0 run with Maya Hernandez and Jess Lawson combining for seven unanswered points, while keeping the Gaels scoreless over the final four minutes before halftime. 
 
The Lions ended their halftime lead with Hernandez and Lawson scoring the first six points coming out of the intermission, highlighted by a converted four-point play from Lawson. 
 
After the home team rattled off the next seven points to pull within six, LMU responded with a 14-0 run to push the lead to 20 points. Zawadi Ogot scored back-to-back-to-back baskets during the run as LMU jumped ahead 57-37 with less than two minutes to play in the third.
 
The Gaels controlled the fourth quarter, shooting 53.3 percent (8-for-15) from the field compared to 36.4 percent (4-for-11) for LMU to come within as close as four points. 
 
The Lions shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 10 minutes, and 88 percent (15-for-17) from the stripe overall to secure the win.
 
Andjela Matic tied her career-high with seven assists, matching her performance against Southern Utah earlier this season.
 
LMU will not play over the weekend and will return home next Thursday for a home game against Pepperdine before playing Gonzaga on Valentine's Day.
 
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