NEW ORLEANS – In a crowd of a couple of hundred students from Holy Name of Jesus School, the 19th-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack took down LSU Alexandria, 69-63. The win moves Loyola to 8-1 overall this season with Southern States Athletic Conference play resuming next week.
The Wolf Pack, which is 3-0 in league play, will close out the 2023 home portion of their schedule in The Den against William Carey next Saturday, Dec. 16, at 12 p.m.
Both teams shot 50 percent or better from the field to start the game, as the Wolf Pack took a 21-15 lead after the first 10 minutes of play. Alissa O'Dell and Sandra Cannady scored the first couple of field goals for the Wolf Pack, then Deniya Thornton converted an and-1 opportunity to give Loyola an 8-5 lead. The Generals tied the game at 8-8 and 10-10 during the latter half of the frame, as Taylor Thomas and Sandra combined for the final 11 points to push ahead by six by the end of the quarter.
LSUA made four 3-pointers in the second quarter to hang with Loyola, but the Pack never relinquished their lead. Lizzy Ratcliff and Libby Thompson scored their first points to start the quarter up 26-15, but the Generals scored the next nine points to cut the deficit to 26-24. Cannady made back-to-back buckets to stop LSUA's run, then Jada Farrell made a nice move in the paint for two more points, 34-26, at the three-minute mark. LSUA, though, finished the first half on an 8-2 run to make it a 36-34 Loyola lead at the break.
Both teams struggled to find points in the third quarter, as Loyola outscored the Generals 10-8 in the frame. O'Dell scored the first points of the second half, but neither team scored during the first four minutes of action. Cannady made it a 40-34 advantage, but LSUA scored the next eight points to take its first lead of the game, 42-40. Two more field goals from Cannady and two free throws by Deniya Thornton put the Pack on top, 46-42, by the end of the frame.
The fourth quarter was close with the game getting to four ties and a couple of lead changes. After Alexandria tied it at 47-all, MG Lymon nailed a big 3-pointer to keep the Pack in front, and a 50-50 tie was broken after a Bria McClure jumper with 6:30 on the clock. The Generals had a 56-53 lead with three-plus minutes left, but an 8-0 run flipped the lead back in Loyola's favor, 61-56, with less than two minutes to go. Thomas scored five of those points and McClure made a 3. Cannady scored to keep it a six-point lead with a minute to go, and free throws by Thomas and Thornton down the stretch iced the game.
Pack Facts
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Sandra Cannady led all scorers with 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting while adding seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal.
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Cannady now leads all Southern States Athletic Conference players this year in scoring average with 17.9 points per game.
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Cannady also moved up in the Wolf Pack record book in career blocks. She's now fourth all-time with 66 blocks in 80 games at Loyola.
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In addition to a team-high six assists and three steals, Taylor Thomas also scored 15 points, hitting 2-of-6 from three-point range.
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Deniya Thornton grabbed seven rebounds, four of which were on the offensive glass.
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Loyola has won five consecutive games against LSU Alexandria.
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