Tennesse Southern beats No. 25 Loyola in overtime

NEW ORLEANS – The 25th-ranked Loyola University New Orleans women's basketball suffered its first Southern States Athletic Conference loss of the season on Thursday, losing in overtime to Tennessee Southern, 74-70, in The Den. Next up for the Wolf Pack is a trip to Little Rock, Arkansas, on Saturday and Monday, as they'll play Philander Smith and Arkansas Baptist, respectively. 
 

The Wolf Pack spotted UT Southern the first nine points of the game through the first three minutes of the game. Loyola, though, would get to within one, 15-14, with one minute left in the opening quarter thanks to four points each from Alissa O'Dell, Kate Thompson and Joclyen Wyatt. That score would hold after the first 10 minutes of play. 
 

Loyola took its first lead, 25-24, halfway through the second quarter, but the two teams would go back and forth a couple of times before halftime. O'Dell and Thompson scored again during the first five minutes of the frame, and a 3-pointer by MG Lymon got the Wolf Pack's deficit down to one, 23-22. O'Dell eventually gave Loyola the lead, then Lymon and Caitlin Travis put Loyola back ahead, 29-28, before the Firehawks closed the first half on a 10-3 run to take a 38-32 advantage at the break. 
 

The Firehawks continued to maintain the lead in the third quarter. After O'Dell got the scoring started to open the second half, UT Southern extended its lead to 43-35 after two minutes of play. Two more scores by O'Dell trimmed it to a five-point deficit, and Lymon drilled a three to make it a two-point game, 46-44, halfway through the frame. The Firehawks, however, finished another quarter strong, taking a 55-48 lead into the fourth. 
 

Neither team scored in the first three minutes of the final quarter, but Lymon scored eight points during the next four-plus minutes of game time to cut UT Southern's lead down to two, 61-59. Deniya Thornton would get the game-tying bucket with under a minute to go, then two free throws by Travis with 10 seconds left gave Loyola the 63-61 lead. The Firehawks got the equalizing bucket with 0.3 left on the clock to send it overtime, though. 
 

Tennessee Southern started with the first four points of the extra period, and it would eventually take a 73-68 lead with 1:36 left. That would be a good enough lead for the visitors to hold on and earn the conference win. 
 

Pack Facts

• Playing 40 minutes, MG Lymon put up a career-high 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting, 3-of-6 from three. 

• Alissa O'Dell posted her second double-double in a row, finishing with 15 points and 14 boards.

• Caitlin Travis was Loyola's third double-digit scorer with 12 points in the game. 

• Kate Thompson put up eight points and eight rebounds, two assists and two steals in just 18 minutes off the bench.