Lion, Toro Cagers Will Take Their Acts North

Loyola Marymount heads to the great Northwest and Cal State Dominguez Hills also travels to points north in the weekend’s collegiate basketball action.

Loyola, 8-8, plays West Coast Athletic Conference games tonight at Portland and Saturday at Gonzaga in Spokane, Wash. The Lions are 0-1 in conference play. Portland is 10-6 overall and 7-2 at home but 0-2 in the WCAC, while Gonzaga, considered a title contender, is 11-5 and 1-1. The conference loss, Gonzaga’s only one in nine games at home, was in overtime to Santa Clara, another conference favorite.

Loyola guard Keith Smith leads the conference in scoring at 25 points per game. He had 23 in the Lions’ league opener last week against Pepperdine. Freshman guard Steve Haney is next for the Lions at about 14 per game.

Dominguez Hills, 12-5 overall and 3-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn., travels to Cal State Bakersfield tonight and to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Saturday for CCAA contests. The Toros’ only CCAA loss was by three points last week at UC Riverside. The Toros, Riverside and Cal State Northridge are tied for the league lead at 3-1. Bakersfield and San Luis Obispo are a game behind at 2-2.

Toros senior center Kevin Burrell leads the CCAA’s best shooting team (51%), averaging 14.8 points and 8.2 rebounds and shooting 68% in the four league games. Burrell needs 32 points to become the school’s No. 3 all-time scorer. Sophomore forward William Alexander is the second-leading scorer overall but fellow sophomore Brian Edwards is second in conference games at 9.2 points.

The 18th-ranked Lady Toros play at No. 1 Chapman College tonight and at San Luis Obispo as part of a double-header Saturday. The women’s game is the opener at 5:45. The Lady Toros are 13-2 overall, 3-1 in the conference. Chapman is 15-2 and 4-0. San Luis Obispo is 6-11 and 1-3. Chapman, led by 6-footers Missy Firpo, Leone Patterson and Delisa Carter, has won its last 18 conference games at home and is winning this year by an average of 19 points.

The Lady Toros front line of Sherrian Ellison, Adrienne Harris and Deadrea Johnson continues to cause problems for opponents, combining for about 45 points and 27 rebounds per game. Harris needs 14 points to become the school’s No. 2 career scorer behind Chandra Trower, now an assistant coach.

On the junior college level, El Camino hosts Bakersfield at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Harbor hosts Long Beach in Metropolitan Conference games. El Camino, 19-1 overall, is undefeated in Metro play. Harbor, 6-6 overall, is 2-2 in the Metro.