(Montgomery, Ala.) Loyola University New Orleans women's basketball dominated Faulkner University 79-56 this afternoon in the quarterfinals of the SSAC Championship Tournament. With this win, the Wolf Pack moves on to face Blue Mountain College tomorrow, March 6 in the semifinals.
The Eagles knocked down a three at 18:53 to score the first points of the game, but senior Rebekah Greer put back a missed jumper by Neely to bring the Pack within one with 18:26 to go in the first. A jumper by junior Adrianne Sloboh would give the Pack the first lead of the night (5-3), but Faulkner's Brandy Allen would drain a second chance shot to bring the Eagles up by one with roughly 15 minutes remaining in the first. Neely knocked down a deep three at 13:45 and would then feed senior Megan Whittaker for an easy layup to bring the Pack up by four (10-6).
A three-pointer by sophomore Briana Oglesby off a Faulkner turnover would extend the Pack's lead to seven with 12:36 to go in the first. Loyola would continue this offensive pace, with Caroline Gonzalez draining a deep three off a nice pass from Whittaker to bring the Pack up by 19 with 9:59 left to play. Faulkner would go on a 7-0 run over the next three minutes, cutting the deficit to 11, and would enter the second half down by only seven points (37-30).
The Eagles would go on a 5-0 run coming out of halftime, but Loyola would respond with its own 7-0 run, thanks to a driving layup and a deep three by Greer off an assist from Whittaker. Temple would also knock down a shot in the paint to bring Loyola up by nine (44-35) with 16:09 remaining in the game. Faulkner's China Leary would convert a three-pointer to cut the Pack's lead to seven, but Greer would drain her third three-pointer of the night off yet another dish by Whittaker.
Loyola continued its impressive three-point show, with Gonzalez knocking down two from beyond the arc over the next few minutes, followed by a top-of-the-key basket by Oglesby to bring the Pack up by 22 (66-44) with 6:15 to go. The Would Pack would extend the lead to a game-high 25 (71-46) with four minutes remaining, and Faulkner would not come within 19 points of Loyola for the remainder of the game.
Five members of the Pack posted double-digits in the victory over the Eagles. Neely, Greer and Oglesby all tallied a team-high 13 points with Greer going 5-of-7 from the field and knocking down three of her four attempts from three-point range. Oglesby went 3-of-6 from downtown, while Neely dished out a team-high five assists and led the way defensively with six rebounds. Gonzalez and Temple recorded 11 points and 10 points respectively, with Gonzalez draining a trio of three-pointers to help the Pack to shoot 40% (12-of-30) from beyond the arc. Sloboh added six points and six rebounds in the win.
China Leary paced the Eagles on offense with a game-high 19 points, shooting 50% from the field and going 4-of-7 from three-point range. She also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds, while Brandy Alley notched six boards on the day. Kayla Tillman aided the offense for the Eagles with 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting.
Loyola finished the game shooting 48% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc, compared to Faulkner's 33% and 29%, respectively. Both teams grabbed 32 rebounds, but Loyola's bench outscored the Eagles bench 32-11. The Pack also scored 32 points in the paint, while Faulkner tallied only 18 points inside.
The Wolf Pack will take on Blue Mountain College tomorrow, March 6 at 1:30 p.m. in the semifinals of the conference tournament. Loyola and Blue Mountain split the season series, with the Pack winning 74-52 on the road, and falling to the toppers 82-74 in The Den.
For a full schedule of the SSAC tournament and information on how to watch the games live, click here.
