Box Score The fifth ranked Bethel University Lady Wildcats took down the eighth ranked Loyola University women's basketball team 62-53 tonight in The Den.
THU, 02/26/2015
(New Orleans, La.) The fifth ranked Bethel University Lady Wildcats took down the eighth ranked Loyola University women's basketball team 62-53 tonight in The Den.
The Wolf Pack (23-3, 14-3 SSAC) would fall behind the Wildcats 4-0 three and a half minutes into the game, but field goals by sophomore Meghan Temple and senior Janeicia Neely tied the game at four with 15:11 remaining in the first. Loyola would then go up by four off a jumper by redshirt sophomore Briana Oglesby, but the Lady Wildcats responded with a three-pointer by Martessia Williams to cut the deficit to one with 13:47 to go in the first half. Oglesby knocked down a three-pointer minutes later to bring the Pack back up by four, but back-to-back field goals by Shaamon Pearson brought the Lady Wildcats up by one with 11:43 left to play in the first. The Pack and the Lady Wildcats would exchange leads for the remainder of the half, eventually leading to a 25-25 tie going into halftime.
Bethel would score the first points of the second half, but a jumper by senior Megan Whittaker would lead to the fifth tie of the night (27-27). The Lady Wildcats began to pull away with 16 minutes remaining, going up by as much as seven with 15:11 to go. Loyola remained on the heels of Bethel, cutting the deficit to two off a trio of field goals by Neely, but the Lady Wildcats continued to press the offense, going up by a game-high nine points with 8:22 left to play. Bethel would remain ahead of the Wolf Pack for the remainder of the night.
Neely paced the Wolf Pack on offense with 18 points, finishing the night 7-of-18 from the field. Oglesby added 12 points, while Temple recorded a team-high nine rebounds.
The Lady Wildcats (27-2, 17-0 SSAC) outrebounded the Pack 60 to 30 and collected 22 offensive rebounds in comparison to Loyola's eight. The Wolf Pack finished the night shooting 31% from the field and a mere 19% from beyond the arc, while Bethel shot 32% from the field and 31% from three-point range.
Williams led the Lady Wildcats on offense, tallying 19 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while Jackliann Street added 12 points. Kenyatta Drake posted a game-high 14 rebounds, grabbing 10 offensive boards to go along with 11 points on the night.
Loyola will resume action this Saturday, February 28 at 2 p.m. for their final game of the regular season against SSAC opponent Belhaven University in The Den.
