Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Cal State Dominguez Hills Athletics

Upcoming Events & Results

Composite Calendar
FloSports
x
Michael Foo

Women's Basketball

Loyola Marymount Escapes With 88-86 Exhibition Win

LOS ANGELES -- Senior Tayler Champion attempted a tie-breaking 3-pointer with six seconds left and the score knotted at 86-86, but the errant shot was corralled by Loyola Marymount, and Lion Deanna Johnson put in the game-winning layup as time expired to give the hosts a heart-stopping 88-86 win in Gersten Pavilion.

Senior Talia Rayford added 19 points and team-high 13 boards while Anandi Jimenez chipped in 13 points and 12 rebounds in the heartbreaker, the first exhibition game for both clubs.

In a back-and-forth first half, the hosts took control early after a layup gave the Lions a 22-13 lead with just under nine minutes elapsed, until CSUDH replied with a 7-3 run to cut its deficit to just five at 25-20.

LMU, however, upped its advantage to 35-24 at the 5:16 mark, holding the 11-point lead nearly a minute later.

That's when CSUDH started its final first-half push, using a Rayford bucket, two foul shots by Kaaron King and two more by Femi Hamilton to chop LMU's edge to just 37-32, before buckets by Champion and Rayford brought the tally to just one.

After exchanging buckets, a pair of Jimenez freebies with 36 ticks left in the half gave the Cardinal and Gold a 40-39 lead entering the break.

LMU opened the second half with a triple, before CSUDH answered with a Jenee Gooden bucket and Champion trey, giving the Toros their largest lead of the night at 45-42.

Another 3-pointer by the Lions tied the game for the fifth time at 45-45, before another exchange of baskets produced another stalemate at 47-all.

One more triple, a pair of free throws and a layup pushed the Lions to a 7-point lead at 54-47 with 14:18 left in the contest, until an 8-2 run by the Toros put them on the precipice of regaining the lead, which they did on a Champion triple at 12:17, good for a 58-57 edge.

A seventh tie at the 8:24 mark preceded another Lion run that gave LMU a 71-64 edge, one they held until just 3:23 remained in the contest with the Lions up 81-74.

The Toros again answered with a 12-5 run of their own, capped by a pair of threes, courtesy of Julia Poecksteiner and Champion, the last knotting the game for the final time at 86-86 with just 38 ticks left in the game.

A Jimenez steal gave the ball back to the Toros with 15 seconds left, but a missed layup three seconds later and Champion's miss follow set the stage for the coast to coast dash by LMU's Deanna Johnson, whose 18th and 19th points of the night came as the buzzer sounded.

Champion led all scorers with 20 points on the night, with a quartet of Toros scoring in double figures in Rayford (19), Jimenez (13), Monay Lee (11) and King (10).

Rayford tallied team-high rebounding honors with 13 while Jimenez chipped in with 12 to give CSUDH a pair of double-doubles on the night.

Both teams shot an efficient 41% from the floor, but CSUDH's 17-of-31 (.548) effort from the foul line was the lesser of two evils compared to LMU's 23-of-38 (.605), providing the margin of victory for the Division I Lions and head coach Charity Elliott, former coach of CCAA school UC San Diego who led the Tritons to the first No. 1 ranking in school history and a 30-3 record in her final year at UCSD.

CSUDH also used a huge 61 to 43 rebounding edge in the close loss, including 22 on the offensive end that resulted in a 24-to-4 advantage in second-chance points.  The bench also was huge for the Toros en route to outscoring the Lions 37 to 19, led by Rayford and King, who combined for 19 of those 37 points.

The Toros will conclude their exhibition schedule next this Saturday at Pepperdine University, set for a 12 noon first tip.
 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Tayler Champion

#03 Tayler Champion

F
5' 11"
Senior
Jenee Gooden

#11 Jenee Gooden

G
5' 6"
Junior
Anandi Jimenez

#22 Anandi Jimenez

F
5' 11"
Redshirt Junior
Monay Lee

#15 Monay Lee

G
5' 7"
Junior
Julia Poecksteiner

#12 Julia Poecksteiner

G
5' 10"
Junior
Talia Rayford

#14 Talia Rayford

G
5' 6"
Senior
Femi Hamilton

#24 Femi Hamilton

G
5' 7"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Tayler Champion

#03 Tayler Champion

5' 11"
Senior
F
Jenee Gooden

#11 Jenee Gooden

5' 6"
Junior
G
Anandi Jimenez

#22 Anandi Jimenez

5' 11"
Redshirt Junior
F
Monay Lee

#15 Monay Lee

5' 7"
Junior
G
Julia Poecksteiner

#12 Julia Poecksteiner

5' 10"
Junior
G
Talia Rayford

#14 Talia Rayford

5' 6"
Senior
G
Femi Hamilton

#24 Femi Hamilton

5' 7"
Junior
G