USF battled all the way back from an inauspicious start to seize a five point lead with two minutes remaining in Gersten Pavilion Friday, but could not make the late lead stand up, falling in overtime to Loyola Marymount 80-68 in West Coast Conference action. With the win then Lady Dons fall to 8-8 overall, 1-2 in the WCC, while LMU improves to 9-7, 2-1 in league play.

The loss spoiled a special moment for senior forward Sarah Wanless who eclipsed 1000 career points in her standout career with an 11 point, 10 rebound effort.

USF dug themselves an early hole and fought back into the game in the first half after starting 0-11 from the floor and did not make their first field goal until sophomore guard Melanie Turner converted at the 12:44 mark The Lady Dons trailed by as many as13, 28-15 but USF, who entered the game ranked fourth in the nation in free throw accuracy, continued their excellent free throw shooting and converted on all 10 of their first half attempts led by junior forward Cortney Keegean who was 6-6 for the half. USF went on a 13-3 run to end the first half and trailed by four at recess, 32-28.

Once underway in the second half, it looked like the Lady Dons were ready to take control, taking their first lead of the game with 15:26 in the second off a bucket by senior guard Jen Madkins, 37-35. But, much like the Lions in the first half, USF just could not put LMU away and could never increase the margin to more than five points.

USF led 61-56 with 46 seconds left but saw it all slip away in the end as a one of two free throws by LMU's Dana Hunter with .6 seconds on the clock sent the game to overtime where it was all LMU. The Lions exploded out of the gate in the extra session building a 12 point lead with 56 seconds remaining.

Taryn Reynolds led five Lions in double figure scoring with a game-high 22 points. The LMU victory snapped a streak of sorts for the Lady Dons who had won their past five basketball games at Gersten Pavilion.

USF was led by Wanless' second double-double of the season and freshman forward Carey Sauer who added a team-high 14 points. Junior forward Cortney Keegan added 10 points and 11 rebounds and sophomore guard Melanie Turner added 11 points for the Lady Dons, who travel to Malibu tomorrow for a 5:00 pm showdown with the Waves of Pepperdine at Firestone Fieldhouse.