Coming off a five-game road trip, the No. 13 Loyola University New Orleans Women's Basketball team returned home on Saturday to kick off conference play against Faulkner University. Powered by a career-high 17 points by Jr. G Kylah Jones (Houston, Texas/Westfield), the Wolf Pack downed the Lady Eagles 76-61 inside The Den.
Loyola improves to 3-2 with the victory, while Faulkner drops to 3-2 following the loss.
The Lady Eagles got on the board first, before a 6-0 run by Loyola gave the home team the 6-2 advantage with 8:04 left to play in the first quarter. Faulkner answered with a 9-0 streak to regain the lead at 11-6 with 5:41 remaining. The Wolf Pack used triples from Sr. G Briana Oglesby (Baton Rouge, La./University Laboratory School) and Jones to knot the score at 14-14 with just over a minute to play in the first quarter. A layup by Sr. F Adrianne Sloboh (Simi Valley, Ca./Royal) with just 12 seconds left gave Loyola the 16-14 advantage after one quarter of action.
Fr. G Megan Worry (Houston, Texas/Lumberton) came out in the second half on fire, sinking back-to-back triples to give the Wolf Pack their largest lead of the first half, 26-14, at the 8:17 mark. The Lady Eagles cut the deficit to 26-21, before Loyola used a jumper and four free throws to stretch the lead to 32-21 with two minutes to go before halftime. So. GZoie Miller (Frisco, Texas/Lone Star High School) closed out the half with a long three pointer to give the home team the 37-24 lead heading into the locker rooms.
A field goal by Jr. G Jackie Anderson (San Antonio, Texas/Antonian)put the Wolf Pack up 20, 46-26, at the 7:20 mark in the third. Loyola maintained the 20-point cushion for the remainder of the third and held the 58-37 lead after the first 30 minutes of action.
The Lady Eagles started hitting threes in fourth quarter and brought the score to 67-52 with 2:47 left to play in regulation. Loyola remained focus and used solid free throw shooting down the stretch to earn the 76-61 victory at home.
The Wolf Pack shot 11-of-27 (41%) from the floor, while holding Faulkner to just 8-of-35 (23%). Despite the Lady Eagles leading the NAIA in three point field goal defense, Loyola managed to drop 6-of-13 (46%) shots from beyond the arc.
Jones led all scorers with a career-high 17 points on four-of-seven shooting. Sloboh recorded a double-double off the bench, dropping 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Worry also had a career night for Loyola, pouring in a career-high 14 points in the victory.
The Wolf Pack return to action on Monday, Nov. 23, taking on Auburn University at Montgomery at 5:30 p.m. from inside The Den.
