LOS ANGELES — Both Saint Mary's and Loyola Marymount have been scuffling since the two teams met in Moraga about one month ago. Then, both teams were fighting for positioning in the middle of the WCC standings. The Lions had not won a game since that contest, and the Gaels had lost six straight. One streak ended on Thursday night, and fortunately for Gaels fans, it was theirs. Using a strong surge in the second half, Saint Mary's powered past LMU 69-58 on Thursday night inside Gersten Pavilion to run their record to 6-16 (4-12) while the Lions fall to 5-15 (4-10).
 
SECOND HALF SURGE
Down by four going into halftime, the Gaels came out a new team. Midway through the third and carrying over into the fourth quarter, Saint Mary's used a 14-0 run to overtake the Lions and they never looked back. The run was even more impressive if you extend it even further, from the first minute of the third quarter until a Taycee Wedin three early in the fourth: the Gaels outscored LMU 19-3 over a nine-minute stretch. Wedin and Jade Kirisome were doing work from distance, each hitting a pair of threes during the run, which including the Lions shooting just 1-14 from the floor.
 
BREAKING OUT
It had been nine games since Kirisome last scored ten or more points, when she put up 12 against Pepperdine at home. Kirisome was only on the floor for nine minutes against BYU on Senior Day, but she quickly found her rhythm against LMU on Thursday. In 25 minutes, Kirisome went 3-7 from beyond the arc, and 4-8 overall, en route to 15 points, the second-most she has scored in her Gael career. Eight of those points were scored in the third quarter when Saint Mary's found their groove and shut down the Lions.
 
LEND A HELPING HAND
So often, head coach Paul Thomas preaches movement, with and without the ball. With the ball, Saint Mary's put on a clinic in cutting and finding open passing lanes with their best performance of the season. SMC finished with 21 assists on 24 made shots, their most assists since December 15, 2019 at Kansas. Three Gaels finished with at least four assists on the night, and they were the usual suspects: Madeline Holland (eight), Brianna Simonich (five), and Leia Hanafin (four).
 
NUMBERS THAT STAND OUT
The night for Holland was spectacular when you factor in every statistic: eight points, eight assists (a season-best), and nine rebounds (a career-best)…Amy West scored a career-best 12 points and also added seven rebounds in her second game back from injury…Saint Mary's returned to a strong performance on the glass, out-rebounding the Lions by ten (36-26)…the Gaels now have 12 blocks over their last two games.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's concludes their final long trip of the season by taking on Pepperdine on Saturday afternoon in Malibu. Saint Mary's beat Pepperdine handily in Moraga in their only matchup of the season, and they will be looking to sweep both the Waves and the Lions in the same season.
 
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