Loyola loses at Carey; claims co-SSAC title

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Loyola Wolf Pack women's basketball team took a 78-70 loss at William Carey on Saturday, but thanks to the tiebreaker, they'll still be the No. 1 seed at next week's SSAC Championship. It's the third straight season the Wolf Pack has either one outright or claimed the Southern States Athletic Conference Regular-Season Championship. 
 

The SSAC Championship is set for Feb. 28-March 2 in Montgomery, Alabama. 
 

After Loyola fell into a 21-3 hole after seven minutes of play, the Wolf Pack finished the first quarter strong on a 12-4 run in the final three minutes. Taylor Thomas hit a 3-pointer and Jada Farrell converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to make it a 21-10 deficit, then Thomas scored two more times to make it a 25-15 score by the end of the frame. 
 

Caitlin Travis cut it to single digits to start the second, and free throws by Sandra Cannady cut it to six, 25-19, after 70 seconds of play. The Crusaders, though, scored seven straight to push their lead back out to 13, 32-19, halfway through the quarter. The hosts would finish the first half well, too, taking a 41-28 lead over the Wolf Pack by the break. 
 

The Crusaders built a 17-point lead after the first few minutes of the second half, but Travis scored twice and Thomas and Cannady got a couple of buckets to cut it to 10, 55-45, with three minutes left in the third quarter. William Carey would lead by 12, 61-49, entering the fourth quarter, but the Wolf Pack would make one final run in the final 10 minutes. 
 

Trailing 64-51 with seven and a half minutes to go, Thomas and Cannady combined for nine points over the next couple of minutes, 65-60, and Cannady scored again to make it a three-point game, 65-62, with three minutes left. A free throw by Deniya Thornton even made it a two-point game, but William Carey outscored the Pack 13-8 from there to hold on to the win. 
 

Pack Facts

• This is Loyola's fourth consecutive season earning the first seed in the SSAC Championship Tournament. 

• Sandra Cannady had her best rebounding game of the season, putting up her 12th double-double of the year at 25 points and 15 boards.

• Taylor Thomas had 17 points, second on the team, while Caitlin Travis scored 16 off the bench. 

• Thomas also finished with three assists for the game, giving her 501 assists in her Wolf Pack career. She's just the second Loyola basketball player to reach 500 assists in a career. 

• With two steals in the game, Thomas is now also third all-time in steals at Loyola with 242 for her career.