The women’s basketball team hosted their final two home games of the regular season last week. The Lions took down St. Mary’s, 69-56, snapping the Gaels’ four-game winning streak on Pride in Pink Day on Thursday, then, on Saturday, LMU started the game honoring seniors Andee Velasco, Bianca Velasco, Bree Alford, Gabby Green and Josie Buckingham before falling to Pacific. The regular season closes out with a northwest road trip to face Portland and Gonzaga before heading to the conference tournament the following week.
The men’s basketball team won their lone game of the week, a 63-56 wire-to-wire win over Pacific in Saturday’s WCC Game of the Week. The game was highlighted by senior guard James Batemon’s milestone of 1,000 career points scored as a Lion. This week, Batemon and fellow seniors Petr Herman and Jeffery McClendon will be recognized for their careers and contributions prior to Thursday’s final home game. The game will tip at 8 p.m. and air on Spectrum Sportsnet, beginning with the Senior Day ceremony. Tickets are available here. The regular season will conclude with a 1 p.m. game at San Francisco, with tournament seeding implications.
Earlier in the week, junior guard Erik Johansson was recognized as a member of the West Coast Conference’s All-Academic team. Johansson followed that announcement with nine points in Saturday’s win at Pacific.
Following a Golden Coast Conference Player of the Week award, Morgan Molloy led the women’s water polo team to an 11th place finish out of 16 ranked teams in UC Irvine’s annual tournament. The Barbara Kalbus Invitational opened on Friday afternoon as No. 12 LMU and No. 6 Michigan squared off. Despite a one-goal difference in the second half, the Wolverines pulled away to defeat the Lions, 11-9. The Lions opened the second day of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational with a win over No. T-17 Long Beach State, but couldn’t earn the win against No. 7 UC Irvine to close out the day. On the final day, the Lions topped No. T-17 UCSD for the second time in as many weeks, picking up an 11-9 win. LMU will compete in the Claremont Convergence this Friday and Saturday.
The Loyola Marymount beach volleyball team has been ranked No. 15 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason Poll and have been picked to finish third in the West Coast Conference, while boasting thee players to the All-WCC Preseason Beach Volleyball Team. Over the weekend, the team started its season undefeated after beating No. 16 GCU, 3-2, and sweeping ASU and New Mexico, 5-0. The Lions are back in California for three this week, with a trip to USC on Wednesday and games in Northridge on Thursday against CSUN and Vanguard.
The men’s golf team is competing locally at the 2019 Southwestern Invitational at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village. Live Scoring can be followed here.
The Lions baseball team played five games over the past six days. After dropping the game at No. 3 UCLA, LMU cruised past UCR the following night, 5-1. In the opening home three-game series against St. Louis University, LMU took Friday and Saturday night’s games to clinch the series, before falling short on Sunday. The Lions host UC Irvine on Tuesday at 6 p.m. for a Taco Tuesday special against the Anteaters, before traveling to Eugene, Oregon, to face Oregon for a weekend three-game series.
The softball team makes their home debut this week, following a rainout earlier in the season. Tuesday’s game against San Diego State will be the first opportunity to see the Lions in action at Smith Field at 2 p.m. The week will continue with heavy competition over the weekend at Fullerton’s annual Judy Garman Classic.
Former Loyola Marymount standout soccer player Adrien Perez signed a deal with the Los Angeles Football Club of Major League Soccer. Perez was one of three players the club signed as trialists in the preseason. As a member of LMU’s soccer team Perez was an All-WCC selection in three of his four years, appearing on the first team twice and the second team once. He finished his career third all-time in points with 55 and fourth all-time with 21 goals.
The men’s tennis team is back on the road this weekend for the Pacific Invitational, March 1-3, in Stockton, California. The Lions hosted UNC Wilmington on Saturday, and despite clinching the doubles point, fell 5-2. Also, the LMU track team competes on Saturday at the Long Beach State Beach Opener.
