Dosty Twins Lead St. Mary’s Past Loyola

Around the Bay Area, Jermisha and Jerkisha Dosty of St. Mary’s are the female equivalent of Stanford’s Jarron and Jason Collins.

Tall, talented and versatile identical twins, the Dostys led the Gaels to the West Coast Conference tournament title and an NCAA berth with a 58-53 victory over Loyola Marymount on Sunday at Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego.

Jermisha, a 6-foot-3 center, tied the tournament record with 16 rebounds and scored nine points. Jerkisha, a 6-2 forward, scored 15 and had five rebounds.

The Dostys scored the Gaels’ first 12 points and Loyola never led. Freshman guard Corrie Mizusawa took over down the stretch, making nine free throws in the last 1:27.

Loyola made only 19 of 62 shots and attributed the cold shooting to the Dostys.

“We had to alter our shots a lot,” said Bryn Britton, who scored 22 on seven-of-25 shooting. “They are tall and play great defense.”

With three players sidelined because of injuries, Loyola had only seven players. Britton and forward Kate Murray played all 40 minutes.

Despite losing, Loyola (21-9) achieved several milestones. The Lions had never won a WCC tournament game before winning two to advance to the final, reached 20 victories for the first time and are a strong candidate for an at-large NCAA berth.

The Lions’ resume includes a road victory against highly regarded Utah as well as a regular-season victory over St. Mary’s (25-5).