By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
Chelsey Gipson has never been one to shy away from the spotlight. In fact, she revels in it. Just like she used to do at Palisades High, the Loyola Marymount University sophomore is making headlines on the basketball court with her long range accuracy and her drive to be the best she can possibly be.
In the Lions’ season opener, she not only shined from the outside but showed her post-up game isn’t too shabby either, finishing with 13 points and five rebounds in a 69-63 home victory Nov. 6. Two and a half weeks later she scored a career-high 21 points (making four of seven three-pointers) and added a career-best five steals in a 61-53 win versus Robert Morris on the last day of the LMU Thanksgiving Classic.
The team was 7-2 heading into yesterday’s contest against Indiana in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, where the Lions take on South Dakota today and Grambling State tomorrow before returning to Westchester to host Gonzaga in their West Coast Conference opener on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 29 at Gersten Pavilion.
It came as no surprise that her side chose Chelsey Gipson to participate in the three-point shooting contest to tip off Loyola Marymount University’s basketball “Madness” event last Thursday night.
In her first six starts Gipson played an average of 33.5 minutes, scoring 15.0 points per game (second on the team) and 4.2 rebounds per game with 19 assists and 10 steals. Not surprisingly, she leads the team in three-pointers. After all, that was her specialty at Palisades where she was a two-time City Player of the Year and finished her senior season ranked No. 2 in the nation in three-pointers made with 147 and third in scoring in Division I in California with 856 points. She was the 2016-17 Post Cup winner and the City’s Wooden Award recipient.
Gipson saw action in 20 games as a freshman at LMU, scoring 100 points with 18 three-pointers, 35 rebounds and 26 assists. She also appeared on former two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash’s YouTube series “Give and Go.”
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