LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The University of San Diego women's basketball team used a late 18-6 run to pull away from Loyola Marymount University, claiming a 67-59 win, Saturday afternoon in a West Coast Conference game at the Gersten Pavilion.

With the win, the Toreros improve to 14-2 overall, move to 5-1 in the WCC and have now won four straight, and 10 of their last 11 games. With the loss, the Lions fall to 2-14 overall and 0-5 in the WCC.

Malina Hood paced the USD offense with a team-high 21 points on 7-of-19 shooting from the field, including hitting five 3-pointers. Sophia Ederaine scored 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. As a team, USD shot 40% from the field, and were out rebounded 39-34.

In the first half, a Maya Hood jumper sparked a 9-3 USD run to open things up and give the Toreros all the momentum with 15:39 to go. USD continued to push forward, and a Sydney Williams lay-up with 13:16 remaining the period, gave the Toreros their first double-digit lead of the game at 15-5.

LMU then caught a little fire, and used a 12-5 run to pull back to within three of USD at 20-17 with 8:39 to go. However this was answered right back by the Toreros, as a Cori Woodward 3-pointer sparked a 13-2 USD run to give San Diego its biggest lead of the half at 33-19, with 3:25 to go.

LMU then managed to close the gap back down to 10 heading into the break, as USD led at halftime, 40-30.

In the second half, the two teams began to trade basket-for-basket over the first four minutes of action. Then after a Maya Hood jumper gave USD a 46-37 lead with 15:44 to go, the Toreros went ice cold from the field, and LMU got hot. USD didn't score a basket for over four minutes, while LMU used a 10-0 run to take the lead at 47-46 with 11:44 to go.

LMU and USD then began to once again trade basket-for-basket over the next few minutes, until a Ederaine lay-up sparked a 18-6 Torero run over the final six minutes of action, to give USD the 67-59 win.

The Toreros will return to action on Thursday, as they return to the friendly confines of the Jenny Craig Pavilion to host Saint Mary's College in a 6 p.m. WCC game.