Women’s basketball wins road game at Mobile

MOBILE, Ala. – The 16th-ranked Loyola Wolf Pack women's basketball team needed a win Tuesday night to keep their regular-season title hopes alive, the Loyola went on the road and defeated Mobile, 70-60. Loyola is now 21-3 overall and 15-2 in the Southern States Athletic Conference, and it'll end the regular season at second-place William Carey (21-3, 15-3) on Saturday at 12 p.m.
 

The first half was a tale of two quarters, as Mobile went into the break with a 27-26 lead. 
 

Alissa O'Dell scored four early points to give Loyola a 6-3 lead, then four points from Taylor Thomas put the Pack ahead, 10-5, with four minutes to go in the opening frame. O'Dell scored again and Thomas capped things off with a 3-pointer to make it a 17-9 lead for the Wolf Pack after 10 minutes of play. Mobile, however, outscored Loyola 18-9 in the second quarter to take the halftime lead. 
 

Loyola played better in the third quarter and it started when Sandra Cannady hit a 3-pointer in the first minute and a half. Lizzy Ratcliff got on the board and Deniya Thornton hit another one from beyond the arc, 36-31, as Loyola never lost the lead from there. Thomas was the first Wolf Pack player to get into double figures, 42-34, and Caitlin Travis started to get hot when she made the score 44-36 in the final minute of the third quarter. 
 

Travis scored Loyola's first points of the fourth quarter, too, as she had 10 points in the final 10 minutes. Thornton got into double figures with a couple of free throws, 48-40, and two scores by O'Dell kept it an eight-point lead, 52-44, with less than six minutes left on the clock. Jada Farrell made it a 10-point lead moments later, then free throws and a couple of scores by Travis pushed Loyola's advantage to 11, 64-53, with two minutes on the clock. Thomas and Travis iced the game down the stretch with three free throws each. 
 

Pack Facts

• Taylor Thomas led the Wolf Pack in three categories with 16 points, seven rebounds, and three steals, plus two assists and a block. 

• Three freshmen scored in double figures, with Caitlin Travis at 12 points, Deniya Thornton at 11, and Alissa O'Dell at 10 points after a perfect 5-of-5 night from the field. 

• The bench came up big for the Pack, as Loyola's bench players outscored Mobile's 24-3. 

• Loyola dominated the battle on the boards, with the Wolf Pack grabbing 48 rebounds to Mobile's 34. The Pack also outscored Mobile 14-5 on second chance points.