Eighth-seeded Loyola Marymount shocks Portland in WCC tourney opener

Drew Viney scored 25 points and made a late length-of-the-court pass to lead No. 8 seed Loyola Marymount to a 72-68 upset Friday night of No. 5 seed Portland in a first-round West Coast Conference tournament game in Las Vegas.

The Pilots (20-11) had swept the regular-season series, beating Loyola Marymount in a 79-78 double-overtime thriller Jan. 13 and 71-48 on Feb. 12. But Viney didn’t play in the latter because of a migraine.

He dominated Friday, hitting 9 of 14 shots and 4 of 5 from 3-point range while grabbing five boards for the Lions (11-20).

After Portland pulled within 70-68 with 13 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by Derrick Rodgers, Loyola Marymount called time out. Viney inbounded the ball with a long pass to Larry Davis, who scored an easy layup to seal the win.

Jared Stohl led Portland with 23 points.

Pepperdine 84, San Diego 81: Mychel Thompson scored 26 points and Lorne Jackson added 23 as the sixth-seeded Waves (12-20) held on to defeat the No. 7 Toreros (6-24).

The Waves face No. 3 seed San Francisco (16-13) in a quarterfinal matchup tonight. The winner will meet No. 2 Gonzaga (22-9) on Sunday.

Chris Gabriel led San Diego with 18 points.

Women

Santa Clara 62, San Francisco 58: Alyssa Shoji scored a season-high 18 points and Lena Gipson had 14 points and 14 rebounds to allow the Broncos (11-18) to knock off the Dons (4-25) in the opening game of the tournament, also in Las Vegas.

Shoji made five 3-pointers, including consecutive triples midway through the second half, as Santa Clara hung on to a tenuous lead and finished down the stretch, despite allowing eighth-seeded USF a chance to tie it in the closing seconds.

San Diego 73, Loyola Marymount 43: Senior guard Sam Child scored 19 points on 8-for-15 shooting from the field and Emily Hatch had 15 points and 13 rebounds as the seventh-seeded Toreros (16-13) eliminated the sixth-seeded Lions (11-18).