Women’s basketball wins eighth league game

PULASKI, Tenn. – The No. 19 Loyola Wolf Pack won their 11th straight game on Saturday, defeating UT Southern, 76-66, on the road. The win moves the Pack to 14-1 overall and 8-0 in Southern States Athletic Conference play as well, and they'll return to The Den next week for two games. 
 

First, Loyola will host Point University on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. before taking on Thomas University on Saturday at noon as part of the Wolf Pack Athletics Hall of Fame celebration that day. 
 

Taylor Thomas and Deniya Thornton each hit 3-pointers to help Loyola build an early 8-4 lead, but UT Southern was able to battle back to take an 11-10 lead with less than two minutes to go in the opening quarter. Sydni Tangle and Sandra Cannady both scored down the stretch to put Loyola ahead, 14-11, after 10 minutes of play. 
 

The Wolf Pack played an excellent second quarter to extend their advantage to 39-25 by halftime. They shot 52.9 percent from the floor and forced the Firehawks to commit seven turnovers to create the separation. UT Southern did take an 18-14 lead in the first couple of minutes, but a 3-pointer by Tangle started a 25-7 run during the final eight and a half minutes of the first half. Caitlin Travis paced Loyola's offense with eight of those points while Cannady chipped in six and Thornton had five. 
 

Lizzy Ratcliff and Alissa O'Dell scored their first points of the game to start the second half, and Cannady's 14th point got the Pack to a 45-27 lead. A 3-pointer by Ratcliff made it a 19-point lead, 50-31, then Cannady made it a 20-point lead, 57-37, a couple of minutes later. UT Southern scored six of the game's next eight points to cut Loyola's lead to 59-42 entering the fourth quarter. 
 

The Firehawks continued to hold the momentum to start the fourth. They hit five 3-pointers on their way to cutting the score down to 68-64 with two minutes to go in the game, but a 3 by Thomas and three free throws by O'Dell quickly extended Loyola's lead back out to 10, 74-64, with 30 seconds left. 
 

Pack Facts

• Playing UT Southern for the first time since they were known as Martin Methodist in the 2020 SSAC semifinal, Loyola improved to 13-4 in its all-time series against the Firehawks, with the Wolf Pack winning seven of the last eight contests. 

• Sandra Cannady earned her seventh double-double of the season, and 37th of her collegiate career, with a game-high 20 points and 12 rebounds. 

• Cannady, who only drew one free throw attempt in the game despite being in the top five in the conference in free throws made, did all her work from the field, scoring her 20 points on 10-of-13 shooting (77%), her best percentage of the season. 

• Loyola had four double-digit scorers, as Alissa O'Dell and Sydni Tangle each had 11 points while Deniya Thornton scored 10. Tangle also led the team with four assists. 

• Taylor Thomas had four steals for the third consecutive game. She's now had at least three steals in eight straight contests. 

• The 2022 SSAC Defensive Player of the Year, Thomas is now sixth on Loyola's all-time steals list with 216 for her career.