No. 15 Loyola sees 13-game win streak snapped Thursday

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Loyola University New Orleans women's basketball team battled back after a slow start, but the Faulkner Eagles were still able to hold on for the 80-75 win over the Wolf Pack Thursday night in Montgomery, Alabama. The 15th-ranked Wolf Pack is now 16-2 overall and 10-1 in the Southern States Athletic Conference, and they're next scheduled to host Stillman College next Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in The Den. 
 

Faulkner got off to a fast start by shooting 7-of-10 from the floor to take a 16-3 lead through the first five minutes of play. A 3-pointer by Bria McClure ended the Eagles' run, and Morgan Hervey made it a 19-8 score with more than three minutes to play in the opening frame. Faulkner would eventually take a 28-15 lead into the second quarter. 
 

Both teams were held scoreless for the first couple of minutes, but Caitlin Travis got the Pack on the board first, 28-17. Sandra Cannady's first field goal followed by a free throw by Jada Farrell and consecutive made shots by Travis cut the Eagles' lead to 30-24, prompting a Faulkner timeout with four minutes until halftime. Cannady scored two more times to get Loyola to within, five, 33-28, but the Eagles hit a last-second 3-pointer to go into the locker room up 36-28. Up until that 3, the Wolf Pack held Faulkner to just one field goal, as the hosts only scored eight points in the frame. 
 

Lizzy Ratcliff answered a Faulkner 3 with one for herself to open the third quarter, then Taylor Thomas scored to bring the score to 39-33. The Wolf Pack got the closest they've been since the opening minutes of the game when Ratcliff scored, 39-35, but the Eagles answered with another 3 on their next possession. Loyola scored the next four points, however, Faulkner was able to push its lead back out to double digits with more than three minutes to go. After Travis and McClure both made free throws, McClure nailed another 3-pointer to get the deficit back to five, 55-50. The Eagles, though, made another last-second 3 to go into the final quarter up eight. 
 

Faulkner scored to start the fourth, but four points by MG Lymon and two from Travis brought the score down to 60-56. Hervey then made two free throws to cut it to two, and Travis, again, kept it a two-point game with seven minutes to play. Thomas trimmed the deficit to one with a 3-pointer, 64-63, then Travis gave Loyola its first lead of the game with a jumper, 67-66, near the halfway point of the quarter. Faulkner scored the next six points, though, as the two teams traded shots for the rest of the game to never allow Loyola to have the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead. 
 

Pack Facts

• Caitlin Travis had her best scoring game of the season, leading the Wolf Pack with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor. 

• Bria McClure and Taylor Thomas each put up 11 points. 

• In the final seconds, Sandra Cannady got to 10 points and 11 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the year. 

• Loyola combined to block eight shots on the night, marking a new team high for the season.