Box Score Jones fuels the Wolf Pack offense with a career-high 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor.
Eyeing an eighth-straight victory, the No. 22 Loyola University New Orleans women's basketball team embarked on First NBC Court onMondayafternoon to take on Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) foe Brenau University.
Despite only holding a five-point advantage after the first ten minutes of action, the Wolf Pack would outscore the visiting Golden Tigers 66-32 over the next three quarters to cruise to the 83-44 victory at home. With the win, Loyola improves to 12-2 overall and a perfect 4-0 in the league play. Conversely, Brenau drops to 8-3 on the year and 1-2 in conference action following the loss.
The opening quarter saw both teams battle back and force with neither side being able to take command of the contest. Following a layup by Di'Mond Jackson (JR/Baton Rouge, La.) at the 3:09 mark, Loyola ended the opening frame by scoring four unanswered to take the slim 17-12 cushion into the second.
Both teams struggled to find the bottom of the net in the second quarter, as the two sides combined to shoot just 5-of-31 from the floor. Despite the low shooting numbers, the home team managed to outscore Brenau 11-4 to take the 28-16 advantage entering halftime.
Loyola shook the rust off in the second half and began to put the game well out of reach. Up 36-19, Kylah Jones (SR/Houston, Texas) drained a triple to give the Wolf Pack its first 20-point lead of the game at 39-19 with just over seven minutes to play in the third. Up 53-30 late, the home team ended the third with unmatched baskets by Meghan Temple (SR/Houston, Texas), Megan Worry (SO/Houston, Texas) and Kaila Anthony (FR/Pflugerville, Texas) to grab the 57-32 lead heading into the final frame.
The Wolf Pack kept the pedal down in the fourth and ballooned the advantage to as many as 39 following back-to-back free throws by Jones. A three-pointer by Paige Frankiewicz with just 32 seconds remaining was the final basket of the game and it capped the convincing 83-44 victory for the Wolf Pack at home.
Loyola shot 31-of-71 (43.7%) from the floor and 7-of-18 (38.9%) from beyond the arc against the Golden Tigers. The Wolf Pack held the 50-41 rebounding advantage onMondayand forced 21 Brenau turnovers along the way.
The story of the afternoon was Temple who enteredtoday's contest just ten points shy of amassing 1000 points for her career. Despite going scoreless in the second quarter, Temple recorded her 1000th point in the third quarter off an assist by Jackson down low. The Houston native finished the game with 13 total points and a game-high 10 boards and two rejections.
Jones led all scorers with a career-high 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor and game-high four steals. Jackson chipped in four points, five rebounds and a team-high five assists while Worry added seven points and seven boards off the bench for the Wolf Pack.
Briah Woods led Brenau with 14 points and nine boards in the loss.
Loyola hits the road onSaturday, Jan. 7, to take on Faulkner University at 2:00 p.m.
