March 1, 2003

Final Stats

Moraga, CA - On Saturday, March 1 the Saint Mary's women's basketball team fell 74-67 to the Loyola Marymount Lions in West Coast Conference action in McKeon Pavilion. With the loss the Gaels fall to 11-16 on the season, while the Lions improve to 13-14.

Prior to the beginning of the game Saint Mary's honored five seniors playing in their final home game as a Gael: Julie Morris, Katie Davis, Danielle Ferris, Natalie Kelly and Megan Bryan.

The Lions jumped out to an 11-2 lead as the Gaels struggled offensively, while committing costly turnovers. After the first 10 minutes of play the Gaels had scored just eight points as they found themselves down by nine. The Gaels offense continued to have problems as SMC trailed 27-12 at the 6:43 minute mark. LMU would lead by as much as 21 as they took a 40-19 lead going into halftime.

LMU raced out to a 4-0 run to start the second half as the Gaels' woes continued. Saint Mary's would rally with an 18-10 run, to get within 15 points at the 7:30 minute mark. Unfortunately, the Lions kept making shots not allowing any comeback for the Gaels. The Gaels' full court pressure would allow SMC to make the game interesting, but nothing seemed to be going Saint Mary's way.

With less than two minutes remaining the Gaels gathered a 9-2 run to come within six after trailing by 13 points. But after the Gaels' second technical foul of the game, LMU walked away with the victory.

Leading the way offensively for the Gaels was Triola Jackson (San Diego, CA), who finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds for her 14th double-double of the season. Also contributing offensively was Lindsay Lopez (Antioch, CA), who recorded 13 points and Erika Urmonaite (Klaipeda, Lithuania), who tallied 10 points.

The Gaels will travel to San Diego, CA for the WCC Tournament as they play in the first round against the Portland Pilots on Thursday, March 6. Tip-off is TBA in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.