Loyola Women Have 2 to Play, Chance at Title

The Loyola Marymount women’s basketball team, with an outside chance to share in the West Coast Conference title, plays its final games on the road starting with a 7:30 p.m. contest today at the University of San Diego. The Lions complete the season Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Santa Clara.

Going into the final games, San Francisco and St. Mary’s are tied at 9-2 in conference play, followed by Loyola at 7-5. USF and St. Mary’s also finish the season on the road, each playing at Portland and Gonzaga.

To share the title, Loyola would need to win both games while both league leaders were being swept. However, the Lions, 14-12 overall, have not been a good road team, going 2-9 away from home.

The first time these teams played, in Los Angeles, Loyola suffered one of its worst losses in its WCC opener against Santa Clara, 67-44, but came back the next night to beat San Diego, 78-70.

Guards Kristen Bruich and Lynn Flanagan continue to lead the Lions’ attack, averaging 14.5 and 12.4 points per game respectively.

Junior center Tricia Gibson, who has a school-record 70 blocked shots, will miss the final games due to a back injury.

Lately, the Lions’ forwards have played well. Sophomore Joelle Longobardi has led the team in scoring in two of the last five games and was the top rebounder in another. Senior Michelle Bettencourt was top scorer twice in the last eight games, and sophomore Nicole Taylor has led in scoring once and rebounding once in the last five games.

San Diego (15-10, 5-7) has one of the conference’s top young players in 6-foot-4 freshman center Chris Enger, who has passed Loyola’s Gibson for the WCC lead in blocked shots and recently tied a conference record with 24 rebounds.