With first place in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) on the line, the No. 25 Loyola University New Orleans Women's Basketball team welcomed No. 4 Bethel University to The Den for the NAIA Network Division I Women's Basketball Game of the Week.
In a rematch of last year's SSAC Tournament Championship, Bethel out-gunned the Wolf Pack on Saturday to take the 71-52 victory and earn the series sweep.
With the loss, Loyola drops to 17-6 on the year and 12-3 in the SSAC. Conversely, the Lady Wildcats improve to 22-5 overall and take sole possession of first place in the conference with a 13-2 mark.
Jr. G Kylah Jones (Houston, Texas/Westfield) was the only double-digit scorer for Loyola on Saturday, putting up 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor. So. G Zoie Miller (Frisco, Texas/Lone Star High School) paced the Wolf Pack offense with five assists, while Fr. G Megan Worry (Houston, Texas/Lumberton) grabbed a team-high five rebounds in the loss.
Bethel featured four scorers in double digits, led by Jasmine Whittemore's 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
Loyola shot 18-of-54 (33%) from the floor and 7-of-22 (32%) from three on Saturday. The Wolf Pack recorded six blocks compared to just one by Bethel, while the Lady Wildcats held the convincing 46-29 advantage in rebounds.
After Jr. F Jackie Anderson (San Antonio, Texas/Antonian) put the Wolf Pack on the board first with a triple, the Lady Wildcats strung together a 10-0 run to take the 10-3 advantage with 6:32 to play in the first quarter. Down seven, Jr. F Caroline Gonzalez (Colleyville, Texas/Colleyville Heritage) knocked down a three pointer to bring Loyola within four at 18-14 with just over a minute remaining in the quarter. Bethel's Madison Steppee ended the quarter with a free throw to bring the score to 19-14 after the first quarter of action.
Starting the second quarter with a 19-14 deficit, the Wolf Pack orchestrated a 6-0 run to go up 20-19 and take their first lead since the first basket of the game. The visitors quickly responded with nine-unanswered to grab the lead back at 28-20 with just over three minutes to play in the half. With 26 seconds remaining the quarter, Bethel's Whittemore drained a jumper to give the Lady Wildcats the first double-digit lead of the game at 35-24. The score remained 35-24 as the quarter expired and the visitors went in to the locker room up by 11 points.
Up 11 heading in to the third, Bethel started the quarter with five triples to stretch the advantage to 23 points, 54-31, with four minutes to play in the third. Loyola ended the third with field goals by Temple and Miller to cut the deficit to 56-40 heading in to the final 10 minutes.
Loyola managed to get within 13 points twice in the fourth but Bethel remained in control down the stretch to earn the 71-52 victory inside The Den.
The Wolf Pack have their final home game of the 2015-16 season on Wednesday, Feb. 17, when they welcome crosstown rival Xavier University (La.) to campus for Senior Day. Tip between Loyola and the Gold Nuggets is set for 6:00 p.m.
