Weakened Loyola Loses in Semifinal

It will go down as a victory for Santa Clara because it ousted defending champion Loyola Marymount from the West Coast Conference women’s basketball tournament Saturday. But the Lions were defeated long before they got to the Leavey Center.

Most of the Loyola Marymount team, along with the coaching staff, became ill after dinner Friday night, leaving it short-handed and emotionally spent in a 73-64 semifinal loss.

Several players were taken to a hospital in nearby San Jose, including guard Amanda Patton and forward Bronwyn Evans, who stayed on the bench. Two players, Jenni Smith and Jennifer Henry, remained at the team hotel.

The Lions’ depth, their main strength, was neutralized. Coach Julie Wilhoit, who was sick too, didn’t know the source of the ailment.

“Does it have an effect? I think it does,” said Wilhoit, looking gaunt. “I don’t want to take anything away from Santa Clara because they played spectacular. We just did not have the same rotations and the same depth.”

The Lions (15-14) tried to put their troubles aside. Using a strong inside game that featured forward Jacqueline Woods and center Jevay Grooms, they managed a 33-30 halftime lead.

Normally a prolific three-point shooting team, Santa Clara (17-12) changed its approach in the second half and penetrated at will. Michelle Cozad and Kayla Huss, who had 23 and 16 points, respectively, combined to make 23 of 24 free throws; the Broncos made 29 of 37.

Santa Clara took the lead for good with a 13-0 run. Woods scored 11 of her 22 points near the end, but the Lions went without a field goal for nearly 13 minutes.

Shortly thereafter, shooting guard Rachel Ziemann and Wilhoit argued briefly when the Lions took a timeout.

“There were times when we showed a little frustration,” Wilhoit said. “I think we lost our composure. We got away from the things we were doing.”

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No. 24 Gonzaga 58, Pepperdine 40 -- Anne Bailey scored a career-high 21 points and the Bulldogs rallied around an injury to star point guard Shannon Mathews to extend their nation-leading winning streak to 23 games.

Mathews, the WCC player of the year, suffered a severely sprained ankle in the first half and is doubtful for the title game. But Gonzaga (27-2) shot 58.3% in the second half to wear down the Waves.

Jennifer Lacy led Pepperdine (12-17) with 19 points, but the senior forward didn’t get much help from her teammates.

“We had to ask some players to play more minutes for longer stretches than they’re used to,” Coach Julie Rousseau said. “It had a huge impact on the game.”