Dec. 31, 2011

Box Score

LOS ANGELES - Looking to pick up their first West Coast Conference win before the turn of the New Year, the LMU Lions came up just short against visiting San Francisco Saturday, falling 61-59 at Gersten Pavilion.

Danielle Pruitt's layup with 2.3 seconds remaining brought the Lions (4-10, 0-2 WCC) to within two and LMU was able to force a five second call on the ensuing inbounds. But Ashley Lovett's potential game-tying shot was blocked by the Dons' Katy Keating as time expired and it was San Francisco (3-12, 1-1 WCC) that closed out 2011 with the victory.

Pruitt led the Lions with a career-high 14 points, while Alex Cowling had 13 and Monica DeAngelis came off the bench to add 10.

San Francisco also had a trio of players in double-figures, led by Bailey Barbour with 12. Keating finished with 11 and Rheina Ale chipped in 10.

Trailing 8-2 early in the game, a three-pointer by Cowling followed by back-to-back treys from DeAngelis gave the Lions their first lead of the game, 11-8.

A long jumper by Cowling at the 10:35 mark of the half broke a four-minute scoring drought and spurned a 6-0 LMU run that gave the Lions their largest lead of the half, 17-12.

The Dons responded with an 8-0 run of their own to reclaim the lead. Down 24-22 with two minutes remaining, the Lions closed out the half with six straight points, including four by Dani LeNoir and a pair of free throws by Cowling, to take a 28-24 lead into the locker room.

LMU led by as many as nine twice in the second half, including a 43-34 advantage with 13:39 to play. But San Francisco was not finished, piecing together a 13-2 run to take a 47-45 lead with 10:13 remaining.

A Mackenzie Kerins layup just under the five-minute mark gave LMU a 55-50 lead, but the Dons answered with 10 straight points and a 12-4 run to close out the game.

LMU returns to action after the New Year, traveling to face first-year WCC member BYU in Provo, Utah, on Jan. 5.

- GO LIONS -