Box Score Loyola improves to 13-3 overall and 5-1 in the SSAC following the victory. Wolf Pack will square off against No. 21 Bethel on Thursday in Tennessee.
Coming off a stunning loss at Faulkner University on Saturday, the No. 20 Loyola University New Orleans women's basketball team looked to right the ship on the road against the University of Mobile on Thursday evening.
Despite some late runs by the home team, the Wolf Pack (13-3, 5-1 SSAC) used stellar defense down the stretch to hold off the charging Ram on Thursday to grab the 68-58 victory inside the Pharr Gymnasium.
The first ten minutes were extremely close and the score tied four times throughout the frame. With the score knotted at 9-9, Kaila Anthony (FR/Pflugerville, Texas) knocked down a triple to put the visitors up 12-9 with 2:37 to play in the opening quarter. A layup as time expired by Meghan Temple (SR/Houston, Texas) broke a two and a half minute scoring drought to put the Wolf Pack up 14-9 heading into second quarter.
Loyola grabbed its first double-digit lead (25-14) of the game in the second following a long triple by Anthony at the 4:15 mark. A three-pointer by Mobile cut the home team's deficit to eight points before back-to-back baskets by Temple and Kylah Jones (SR/Houston, Texas) gave Loyola the double-digit advantage back (29-17) with just over a minute to play before halftime. The Wolf Pack managed to maintain the double-digit cushion for the remainder of the quarter to take the 29-19 lead into the locker rooms.
Following a layup by Di'Mond Jackson (JR/Baton Rouge, La.), Loyola went up 43-30 with just over four minutes to play in the third. The Rams quickly answered back with a 9-0 spurt to hack the deficit to just four points (43-39) with 2:07 remaining in the quarter. The Wolf Pack was able to push the lead to six before four-unanswered by Mobile brought the home team within two, 45-43, in the final moments of the third. A free throw my Zoie Miller (JR/Frisco, Texas) ended the quarter and brought the score to 46-43 in favor of Loyola entering the final quarter of action.
Up just two points, Jones and Miller knocked down back-to-back long balls to put the visitors up eight, 64-56, with 7:35 left in regulation. The Rams battled back to close the gap at 56-53 but once again the Wolf Pack had an answer - this time in the form of an 8-0 run – to stretch the advantage to 64-53 with 1:38 to play. A triple by Mobile's Kali Koenig closed out the game, but it was too little to late as Loyola held on to grab the 68-58 conference victory.
The statistics on Thursday were eerily similar as both squads grabbed 39 rebounds while committing 19 steals on the evening. The Wolf Pack shot 29-of-64 (45.3%) from the floor and 6-of-20 (30%) from beyond the arc on Thursday while holding the Rams to just a 33.9% clip from the floor.
Temple led the Wolf Pack with 18 points and game-high nine rebounds. Jones added 15 points on 3-of-5 shooting from three while Miller chipped in 14 points and five boards off the bench in the win.
Mobile's standout guard Starla Daggan led all players with 20 points on 8-of-21 shooting.
The Wolf Pack will head to Tennessee on Saturday to square off against No. 21 Bethel University in a battle of nationally ranked rivals. Tip-off from McKenzie is set for 2:00 p.m.
