Hey Lions' fans! Since this is my first entry I'd like to take the time to personally introduce myself to anyone who may not know me yet. My name is Alex Cowling and I am a redshirt Junior fortunate enough to play both the small and power forward for the Loyola Marymount University's Women's basketball team. Right now is an exciting time for my teammates and me because so many season-initiating things are happening. While official, full-length practices have been going on since the beginning of October, last week we had our annual inter-squad game where fans got the chance to catch a glimpse of the team in action.

We've made a lot of changes since our turbulent last season and we're already beginning to see the effects of them on the court. Particularly in the hiring of two new coaches (a new strength and conditioning as well as an assistant coach) who have injected a new energy and attitude to the program. Our girls are really young, with nine of our fourteen being freshmen and sophomores, but they bring a level of heart and coach-ability to the table that, mixed with their above-average talent, makes for an exciting combination. We are definitely READY TO COMPETE! Which brings me to my most pressing source of anticipation.

This weekend we FINALLY get to play another team when we scrimmage USC at the Galen Center. It's closed, so people aren't allowed to watch, but getting the chance to play a team as talented as the Trojans will be a really great measuring stick, especially as we get ready to embark on this quest for a WCC championship. We need to be able to compete against and beat teams who have proven to be among the best in order to be the best. Playing USC right off the bat puts us in the mindset that "the best" is exactly what we intend to be. Also, pertaining to our style of play, you'll get to see a dramatic on-court change this season too. I won't give it away on here quite yet however. You'll just have to come out to Gersten Pavilion and check us out if you want to see what it is. But until next time trust that we'll be working hard in the gym, and make sure to come out to our Men's exhibition game on Tuesday night! We're all on the same mission here: WCC Championship or Bust! GO LIONS!

SAN BRUNO, Calif. - The West Coast Conference will hold its 2011-12 men's basketball tip-off event at neighboring YouTube headquarters on Thursday, October 27. The event will give West Coast Conference fans the ability to interact with all nine WCC head men's basketball coaches through three different mediums, all available on WCCsports.com.

 

The day begins at 12:30 p.m., with each WCC coach doing the live video interview in which fans can submit questions via Twitter and Facebook. The video interview with each coach will be streamed live on both YouTube.com and WCCsports.com. In addition, the coaches will participate in a live blog chat through the Cover It Live platform, taking questions from fans about the upcoming season.

 

LMU Head Coach Max Good will be the featured on the video stream interview at 2:30 p.m. He will also participate in Cover It Live Chat with fans at 1:15. In addition to the live content from YouTube headquarters, interviews and other features will be aired throughout the 2011-12 season.

 

Coach Good will also sit down with play-by-play announcer Jeff Lampe for WCC Live, the live internet talk show that will preview the team's season. The special edition of WCC Live will originate from the YouTube lobby and air from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. PDT.

 

Also at the event, each head coach will participate in a three-coach round table discussion on a variety of topics, with the chats to air on a future episode of The Road to Las Vegas during the WCC basketball season. Coaches will also spend one-on-one time with media members in attendance.

 

For more details, to tune in, and to participate, fans can visit the tip-off event Web Central. To ask questions of coaches via Twitter, please use the hashtag #WCChoops. On Facebook, post comments to the wall on Facebook.com/WCCsports.

The Lions just got back from a tough weekend on the road. The Lions fell short against both BYU and San Diego. Last Thursday, Brittany Jagger recorded her second double-digit save effort of the season, but it was not quite enough as the Lions fell 3-0 to WCC newcomer BYU in front of 2,700 fans. The Lions traveled back to LA and headed on a bus to San Diego for a match on Sunday. The Lions were tied 1-1 at halftime with the Toreros, but San Diego scored a goal in the last five minutes to win the game. This was the Lions 3rd consecutive loss, but are more than ready to finish strong at home for the last three games of the season.

Even with a jam-packed weekend of traveling to both Utah and San Diego, the Lions made time to participate in LMU's Midnight Madness. Midnight Madness is a school wide pep rally to kick off the basketball season. Throughout the rally each of LMU athletics teams danced to a mixture of songs that they put together and choreographed. Junior midfielder and theatre major Kimiko Miyashima choreographed the dance for the Lions. Below are some pictures from the event!




Hopefully we will be able to post their fun and funky dance that they preformed in front of 2,000 people! The dancing Lions are home for their final three matches of the 2011 season, beginning with WCC opponent Portland on Friday, Oct. 28th at 3pm and Santa Clara on Sunday, October 30th at 1pm to close out WCC play. The Lions will then host Seattle on Saturday, November 5th to close out the year. Come out and support the Lions this weekend as they finish up their conference games!

GO LIONS!

The Lions just got back from a tough weekend on the road. The Lions fell short against both BYU and San Diego. Last Thursday, Brittany Jagger recorded her second double-digit save effort of the season, but it was not quite enough as the Lions fell 3-0 to WCC newcomer BYU in front of 2,700 fans. The Lions traveled back to LA and headed on a bus to San Diego for a match on Sunday. The Lions were tied 1-1 at halftime with the Toreros, but San Diego scored a goal in the last five minutes to win the game. This was the Lions 3rd consecutive loss, but are more than ready to finish strong at home for the last three games of the season.

Even with a jam-packed weekend of traveling to both Utah and San Diego, the Lions made time to participate in LMU's Midnight Madness. Midnight Madness is a school wide pep rally to kick off the basketball season. Throughout the rally each of LMU athletics teams danced to a mixture of songs that they put together and choreographed. Junior midfielder and theatre major Kimiko Miyashima choreographed the dance for the Lions. Below are some pictures from the event!




Hopefully we will be able to post their fun and funky dance that they preformed in front of 2,000 people! The dancing Lions are home for their final three matches of the 2011 season, beginning with WCC opponent Portland on Friday, Oct. 28th at 3pm and Santa Clara on Sunday, October 30th at 1pm to close out WCC play. The Lions will then host Seattle on Saturday, November 5th to close out the year. Come out and support the Lions this weekend as they finish up their conference games!

GO LIONS!

 

On Friday, Darien Pyka and Brianne Medved each tallied goals as the LMU women's soccer team handed Saint Mary's its first home loss of the season in a 2-1 final in Moraga. The win moved LMU to 7-5-2 overall and 1-1-1 in WCC play, while also snapping a five-game winless streak. After the win the Lions had dinner at Senior defender Marissa Zamora's house in Danville, CA. Junior midfielder Cori McGovern was also able to stop by her house in Danville on the way to Marissa's home. She ran through her whole house, pet her dog, pet her cat and ran back in the van to head to Marissa's! It is always nice to go to a family's home when on the road. Thank you Zamora's for having the team!

On Sunday, Battling the No. 5 ranked team in the nation, the LMU women's soccer team put up a fight, but ultimately fell 2-0 to Pepperdine. The Lions move to 7-6-2 on the season and 1-2-1 in conference play. This was a special day for the Lions as it was their designated "Think Pink" game to honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The Lions wore pink uniform shorts, pink sweatbands, pink shoelaces and pink wristbands to show their support of the most common cancer for women. A lot of the players know someone directly who has been affected by cancer making this a very special way to honor their friends and family. Some players honored their loved ones by writing their names on their sweatbands with permanent marker. Below is a picture of Whitney Sharpe, Yiana Dimmit and Rachel Fell wearing their pink proudly.

After splitting the games this past weekend with a win and a loss, the Lions are looking to beat WCC newcomer BYU on Thursday and San Diego on Sunday. Both games are on the road, but the Lions will return home Friday, October 28^th vs. Santa Clara and Sunday, October 30^th vs. Portland. Make sure to follow the Lions this weekend and we hope to see you when the Lions come home to wrap up WCC play in two weeks!

GO LIONS!

The Lions traveled to USF on Friday night to open conference play. Above is a picture of the team doing some sight seeing at the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, a late second half push, capped by sophomore defender Etajha Gilmer, left the LMU women's soccer team just short in it's conference opener in a 2-1 final score. LMU found itself down 1-0 just four minutes into play. The Lions controlled the game outshooting the Dons 7-3 in the first half and 16-9 in the entire game. Going into the second half down 1-0, the Dons extended their lead to 2-0. The Lions continued to fight and Gilmer was able to send a ball in the back of the net off of Linda Bakker's corner kick with 5 minutes remaining in the game. LMU was able to get two more shots off before the final whistle. Bakker's shot went high and Brianne Medved's shot went right over the crossbar. This was a tough loss on the road for the Lions. They were eager to get back home to face the Gonzaga Bulldogs for their 100^th Anniversary Centennial Match.

Above is a photo of the Lions before their conference home opener against the Gonzaga Bulldogs. LMU athletics is celebrating their 100^th Anniversary this year and has designated a game for each sport to represent the celebration match. This past Sunday was the women's soccer team's Centennial Match. In LMU's third overtime game of the season, The Lions and Bulldogs battled to a 0-0 tie in 120 minutes of play. LMU moved to 6-5-2 on the season and 0-1-1 in WCC play, picking up their first conference point with the draw. Even though LMU lead the shot count again in this match 9-4, they were unable to capitalize on a goal. LMU goal keeper Brittany Jagger only had to make one save in the game.

Tawni Martino scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season, but UNLV snapped a tie eight minutes into overtime and the LMU women's soccer team fell 2-1 to the Rebels in its final game before opening WCC play next week.

The Lions headed to Las Vegas on Friday and was able to enjoy some team bonding on the Las Vegas Strip on Saturday for lunch. Sophomore transfer Deprise Brazel took some great pictures that you can see below. Deprise transferred from Davidson College in North Carolina. When she isn't on the soccer field she loves taking photos. She has even entered some of her photos into online contests. Next contest she enters I will post the link so you can vote!

Many of you have read about the NCAA Presidents meeting that was held in August.  The result of that meeting has been the creation of five committees to address the following issues:

1.        Collegiate Model - Committee on Academic Performance (CAP);

2.        Student-Athlete Well-Being Working Group;

3.        Resource Allocation Working Group;

4.        Collegiate Model - Rules Working Group;

5.        Collegiate Model - Enforcement Working Group.

Here are some the the moves that you can expect to occur from each of the Committees.

1.     Collegiate Model - Committee on Academic Performance (CAP)

You can expect the CAP to create a package of academic proposals aimed at improving academic success.  The package of proposals will probably include increased initial-eligibility standards, increased two-year college transfer standards, an increase of the penalty benchmark to 930, and amending the NCAA Division I Academic Performance Program penalty structure to include a postseason ban in the first year a team falls below the 930 benchmark. In sum, entering students will need to be more qualified than ever before to compete in their first year and teams will have to consistently perform well in the classroom in order to reach post season play.  A dozen teams would not have qualified fro the NCAA tournament this year, including the Champion UConn team, because of the APR standard.  Our APR for this past year was a perfect 1000.

 

2.     Student-Athlete Well-Being Working Group.

This group is addressing the value of athletics grants-in-aid, terms of grants-in-aid and other ways to enhance the well-being of student-athletes.  They are suggesting a student-athlete who has received a full athletics grant in aid receive additional athletic aid (or other institutional aid, including use of Student Athlete Opportunity Fund) up to the full cost of attendance or $2,000, whichever is less; permit multi-year grants up to the full term of eligibility; eliminate financial aid eligibility restrictions (five years of aid within a six-year period) to permit former student-athletes to return to the institution and receive unearned athletics aid to complete their baccalaureate degree requirements; early graduation from high school and enrollment in college should receive increased scrutiny to ensure that only qualified student-athletes are permitted to engage in practice; and consideration of a category of student-athletes who may qualify for financial aid and practice, but no competition in their initial year in residence.

3.     Resource Allocation Working Group

Look for this group to eliminate non-traditional competition and reduce mandatory out-of-season practice;  explore what a reduction in competition looks like for all sports, including ramifications;  eliminate all foreign travel; a reduction of scholarships in many sports and/or reallocation in others as well as reductions in coaching staffs.

4.     Collegiate Model - Rules Working Group

This group is charged with a full evaluation of the NCAA rules and by-laws - a daunting task and one I won't comment on here.

5.     Collegiate Model - Enforcement Working Group

This group will consider the guiding principles for action, milestones and timeline, prior reviews of the enforcement program and penalty structure, and violation and penalty structure background. 

 

The winds of change lie not only in conference realignment as determined by football primarily, but also in the very structure of the NCAA and the guiding principles of collegiate athletics.  Stay tuned, there will be more forthcoming.

As the 2011-12 Centennial Season continues for LMU athletics, the first week of October will be a fun one as it will be a week that features a Wells Fargo PCH Cup showdown on ESPNU on Wednesday and then is capped by a Centennial Game celebration on Sunday.

 

On Wednesday, Oct. 5, LMU women's volleyball will host rival Pepperdine in Gersten Pavilion at 6 p.m. The earlier start time is because ESPNU will be broadcasting the game nationally. The game will also be the second of the season in the Wells Fargo PCH Cup Series.

 

And to top it off, it's a big one in terms of the standings early in West Coast Conference play. LMU improved to 3-1 in the WCC with a sweep over Saint Mary's on Saturday and is tied for second. Pepperdine, ranked 19^th nationally, is at 3-0 in conference play.

 

Then on Sunday, Oct. 9 women's soccer will host Gonzaga at Sullivan Field for its 2011 Centennial Game. Start time of 1 p.m. It will be the Lions first conference game at home as they travel to San Francisco on Friday. The Centennial Celebration will offer special promotions, including a food give-away to the first 100 students. Follow the Lions on Facebook and Twitter to find out what the give-away will be.

 

It's all part of a busy week for LMU in conference play. Men's golf plays Monday and Tuesday up in Reno, Nevada, at the Wolf Pack Classic, taking on several WCC foes San Diego and Santa Clara in the process.

 

Then on Thursday, men's water polo returns home to face conference foe Whittier at the Burns Aquatics Center on Thursday at 3 p.m. 

 

Friday will feature more action at Gersten Pavilion as women's volleyball hosts a non-conference match with perennial NCAA tournament participant UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m.

 

The action will conclude on Sunday with the Centennial game for women's soccer. All season the Lions will celebrate the 2011-12 Centennial Season with special Centennial games for each of its varsity programs. Men's water polo started the action with a standing-room only crowd of over 800 at the Burns Center in September, followed by women's volleyball with nearly a 1,000 against BYU last Thursday. Following women's soccer will be a pair of Centennial Races.

 

On Oct. 29 men and women's cross country will be at the WCC Championships and in the process the Lions will celebrate its 100 years at the races. Also that day, men's rowing will host UCLA at the Bove Boathouse for its Centennial Race.

 

Follow the Centennial all season at LMULions.com/LMUat100.