Junior Khalila O’Rielly-Williams’ shot with four seconds left in the game lifted the University of Portland women’s basketball team past the Loyola Marymount Lions, 57-56 on Sat., Feb. 8 at the Chiles Center in Portland, OR. Portland improves to 9-13 on the season, 3-6 in the WCC, while LMU falls to 11-11 overall, 3-6 in WCC play.

Down by 10 points (35-25) with 18:16 left in the game, the Pilots chipped away at LMU’s lead. Portland tied the game (53-53) on a made free-throw by Hanna Seltzer with 3:04 left in the game. LMU’s Raelen Self hit her fourth trey of the game with 3:00 on the clock to put the Lions back up by three (56-53). With 1:20 left in the game, Ashlee Giles stole the ball from LMU’s Self and hit Khalila O’Rielly-Williams for the open shot. O’Rielly-Williams was fouled by Jennifer Henry and converted both free-throws, making it a one-point ball game. Claudine Ault missed a three-point attempt and UP’s Jamie Medley grabbed her ninth rebound of the night, also a career-best. With four seconds on the clock, O’Rielly-Williams hit a bank shot to pull Portland past the Lions, 57-56 as time expired.

In the game, O’Rielly-Williams led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line. O’Rielly-Williams made all but two of her 17 points in the second half of play. Michaela Dalgleish tallied 14 points and six assists, while Ashlee Giles chipped in nine points. As a team, the Pilots shot 22-of-54 (41 percent) from the floor, 1-of-12 (eight percent) from behind the arc and 12-of-15 (80 percent) from the charity stripe.

“That was a great win tonight,” said Head Coach Jim Sollars. “The kids really hung in there and played their hearts out. We didn’t shoot the ball well tonight, but we executed down the stretch. I am very happy with our effort.”

LMU’s Jennifer Henry and Raelen Self each totaled 12 points in the game. Adrianne Slaughter was held to just six points on the night, but racked up nine boards. The Lions shot 40 percent (21-53) from the field, 47 percent (8-17) from three-point range and 86 percent (6-7) from the free-throw line.

The Pilots racked up 28 points in the paint and 22 points off LMU turnovers tonight. The Lions edged the Pilots on the boards, 35-31 in the game.

UP NEXT: Portland will travel to San Francisco, CA on Fri., Feb. 14 to take on USF at 7:00 p.m. On Sat., Feb. 15, the Pilots will face Saint Mary’s College at 7:00 p.m. in Moraga, CA.