Dec. 10, 2015
LOS ANGELES -- The San Diego State women's basketball team was unable to keep pace with the hot shooting of Loyola Marymount on Thursday in a 92-65 road loss to the Lions in a special Kids Day matinee at Gersten Pavilion. With the defeat, the Aztecs fall to 3-6 on the season, while LMU moves to 4-6 overall.
The Lions connected on 33 of 62 field-goal attempts (53.2 percent) and 10 of 23 tries from three-point range (43.5 percent), while SDSU was just 21-for-59 from the floor (35.6 percent), including a 5-for-19 clip (26.3 percent) from beyond the arc. LMU forged a 41-34 lead at halftime before outscoring the Aztecs 32-14 in a third-quarter barrage to break the game open.
In addition, SDSU was snake-bit by 20 turnovers as the Lions tallied 28 points off those miscues and maintained a 40-26 scoring advantage in the paint to win going away. The Aztecs were also out-rebounded by a 38-33 margin, including a 23-14 spread on the defensive glass.
Individually, SDSU was paced by sophomore McKynzie Fort (Fontana, Calif.), who tallied 15 points and a career-high nine rebounds, while senior Ahjalee Harvey (Mountain View, Calif.) and sophomore Lexy Thorderson (Castle Rock, Colo.) totaled nine points each. Thorderson drained a trio of three-pointers and added two steals, while Harvey dished out a team-high four assists.
On the flip side, LMU had four players finish in double figures, including Sophie Taylor, who led all scorers with 21 points, highlighted by a 7-for-7 effort at the free-throw line, while Cheyanne Wallace followed closely with 20 points of her own on 7-for-13 shooting. In addition, the Lions received an important contribution from Leslie Lopez-Wood, who notched 17 points, including a 5-for-6 performance from three-point territory, while Andee Velasco registered 12 points and a game-high six assists.
SDSU kept the deficit under 10 points throughout the first half, but still found itself on the wrong side of a 25-17 score following a layup by LMU's Bree Alford with 7:11 left before intermission. Stung, the Aztecs responded with a 9-3 spurt capped by a Thorderson triple at the 3:42 mark of the second quarter to narrow the gap to 28-26. However, SDSU was unable to grab the upper hand as the Lions closed the half with a 13-8 run, punctuated by a Taylor layup with two ticks on the clock, to take a 41-34 lead into the locker room.
LMU maintained the momentum after the break as Taylor converted an old-fashioned three-point play on its first possession, while Bianca Velasco and Lopez-Wood followed with unguarded treys shortly thereafter to effectively put the game out of reach at 55-38 with 5:24 remaining in the third quarter.
San Diego State will have the next nine days off for final exams before returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 19, when it plays host to Cal State Fullerton at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena. Game time is set for 2 p.m. PT.