Web update: Lions devour Broncos

By Cecile Nguyen

Loyola Marymount women's basketball team did not show any signs of rust in their convincing 71-60 win over no. 8 Santa Clara in the quarterfinal matchup of the West Coast Conference Tournament at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

The no. 4 Lions lost their last four games of the regular season and were playing in their first game in over a week after earning a bye through the first round of the WCC tourney.

"The win was much needed for us," Loyola's head coach Julie Wilhoit said. "The last couple of weeks have obviously been a struggle."

Santa Clara, who finished the regular season with an overall record of 3-26 and a 1-13 mark in conference play, struggled mightily on rebounding. They surrendered 17 offensive rebounds that accounted for 17 second chance Lions points.

"We have got to tip our hats to LMU with their effort," Santa Clara head coach Jennifer Mountain said. "I thought our kids battled the entire game. Looking at the stat sheet and obviously watching the entire game, it really came down to rebounding. We can't give up 17 offensive boards and expect to be in the game at the end."

"I was really, really proud of our effort yesterday and today. I think we did a nice job of actually putting everything together and cumulating our season with great effort," Mountain added.

Senior guard Sara Majors led the Broncos with a career-high 19 points.

"We came into this tournament saying that this could be our last game every game," said Majors. "We had that mindset today and our whole team just (went) for it."

Playing in her final game as a Bronco, Majors said that in addition to being sad that the season, and her career, has come to an end, she and the team did feel some relief that the troublesome season is finally over.

"It was a lot of sadness, but a lot of us were also like 'whew' a little bit also," Majors said.

Added teammate Lena Gipson: "Personally, I kind of wish we could have gone on a little bit longer just to prove to people how well we actually can play."

Gipson finished with nine points, seven rebounds and was 4 for 13 from the field.

The forward, who was named All-WCC Honorable Mention earlier this week, had previously scored at least 10 points in 26 of the Broncos' last 30 games and has racked up a double-double in 19 games.

Loyola (17-11, 7-7 WCC) won the opening tip-off and scored the game's initial bucket. A series of turnovers and air balls kept the Broncos off the scoreboard until four minutes into the game when a layup from Gipson finally got the women on the board.

The Broncos fell behind 24-16 with 7:17 left in the first half after the Lions went on a 9-2 run over a four-minute span. Majors accounted for 10 of Santa Clara's 16 points.

Santa Clara attempted to battle back but could not keep Loyola off the offensive boards. By halftime, the Lions had already grabbed 21 rebounds of which 10 were of the offensive kind, giving them 15 more field goal attempts than Santa Clara.

The Broncos remained down 32-25 at halftime. Majors was perfect from the field in the first stanza scoring 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting and 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.

It became a back and forth type of game as both teams began trading baskets in the second half. A 3-pointer from Cassady Moore gave Loyola a 10-point lead at 49-39 with 14:09 remaining in the game.

Maggie Goldenberger's jumper cut down the Broncos' deficit to 49-41, but Loyola quickly responded and went on to expend their lead to 55-41 with 7:52 left in the game and held on to win.

The Lions' Renahy Young led all scorers with 23 points.

Young said it was definitely one of her best games. "I was in the zone," she expanded. "I really want to get to the championship game. I know our team really wants to get to the championship game and win the whole thing. That's what is driving me right now. I just want to win."

Loyola advances to the semifinals and will play the no. 1 seed Gonzaga tomorrow at noon. The women's championship game is on Mon., March 9 at noon and will be televised on ESPNU.