McDaniel’s 35 Points Spark Waves Past Lions

Although the Loyola Marymount women’s basketball team had a better record and a one-game lead over Pepperdine, it was business as usual for the Waves Wednesday night at Gersten Pavilion.

Behind a career-high 35 points by guard Amy McDaniel, the Waves defeated the Lions, 82-70. It was Pepperdine’s sixth consecutive victory over its West Coast Conference rival.

Loyola fell to 14-9 and 5-6 in the conference and Pepperdine improved to 12-13 and 5-6. The teams are tied for fifth in the WCC.

With Loyola center Amy Lundquist and forward Sheri Brown on the bench because of foul trouble during much of the first half, Pepperdine built a 46-36.

“It really hurt us to have those two on the bench for an extended period,” Coach Todd Corman said. “That’s the first time they’ve both been out like that at the same time the whole season.”

After trailing by 16 points early in the second half, Loyola trimmed the deficit to 56-50 on a basket by guard Marlee Webb with 14 minutes remaining. But that was as close as the Lions could get.

Loyola had four players score in double figures, led by Brown with 16 points and forward Tanya White with 14. Brown also had a game-high 13 rebounds.