Box Score Wolf Pack starts 1-0 in conference play with the win. The next matchup for Loyola comes against the SSAC's Blue Mountain College on Saturday.
The No. 20 Loyola University New Orleans women's basketball team opened its Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) schedule in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Thursday evening in a game against William Carey.
After a slow start, the Wolf Pack (6-3) controlled the tempo for most of the game, finishing strong for an 85-76 victory. The Lady Crusaders fall to 1-4 with the loss, and 0-1 in SSAC play..
William Carey started off the game strong, shooting 8-15 from the floor, including 10-12 from the charity stripe and 3-4 from beyond the three-point arc. The visitors kept themselves in the game with some three-point shooting of their own, with the Pack making four shots from long range. Zoie Miller (SR/Frisco, Texas) and Megan Worry (JR/Houston, Texas) each had a long range make in the first quarter, with Paige Franckiewicz (SO/Slidell, La.) leading the team in scoring with six points on her two treys. But at the end of the first quarter, the home squad led 29-18.
In the second quarter, Loyola began to take control, as the visiting Wolf Pack outscored William Carey by 11 points in both the second and third quarters. Loyola opened up the second quarter with an 8-0 run to cut the home lead to just two points at 29-27. Loyola would hold the home team to just three made shots in the second quarter and no free throws, as well as forcing 10 turnovers, more than the Wolf Pack committed (7) for the entire first half. The game would be tied going into the half at 37-37.
The second half was where the Pack closed out the game strong, shooting 19-29 (65.5%) for the half. Two of Zoie Miller's three steals came in the third quarter, as she increased her point total to 19. By the end of the game, she would end up with a season-high 25 points on 9-17 shooting from the floor (52.9%), including a make on her only three-point attempt. Miller also finished with game-highs in assists and steals, assisting on six made baskets and coming up with three steals on the night.
Megan Worry and Paige Franckiewicz each knocked down three triples on the night, Worry finishing with 17 points on 6-12 shooting and Franckiewicz ending with 16 points, making 5-9 on her attempts.
An'Jolique Woodson (JR/Corpus Christi, Texas) also had a productive night, logging 12 points and 6 rebounds on a perfect 5-5 from the floor and 2-2 from the free throw line.
The Wolf Pack as a whole would shoot 31-59 for 52.5% from the floor for the game, while the defense held William Carey to just 25-64 shooting for 39%. The largest lead for the visiting Pack came with 3:48 remaining in the game when Miller scored her 25th point on a free throw to give Loyola an 85-64 lead.
The next matchup for Loyola comes in another SSAC showdown against Blue Mountain College on Saturday, Dec. 2., at 2 p.m.
