Women’s basketball advances at SSAC Championship

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The top-seeded Loyola Wolf Pack opened the Southern States Athletic Conference Championship with a 67-57 win over No. 8 Stillman on Thursday, advancing to the tournament's semifinal round on Friday. The Pack will play the winner of No. 4 Faulkner and No. 5 Life at 5 p.m. inside Montgomery's Multiplex at Cramton Bowl. 
 

Taylor Thomas, Sandra Cannady and Alissa O'Dell got Loyola off to a 6-0 lead, then two scores by Deinya Thornton made the score 12-7 halfway through the first quarter. Stillman clawed back to make it a one-point game, 13-12, even tying it at 15-all with a minute left before taking an 18-16 lead by the end of the frame. 
 

The back-and-forth play continued in the second quarter, which featured four lead changes and six ties. MG Lymon tied the game in the opening minute, 18-18, and Caitlin Travis gave Loyola the lead before Stillman tied it again, 20-20. Free throws by Thornton and Travis flipped the lead in Loyola's favor, 23-21, then Travis broke another tie a few moments later, 25-23. Free throws by Cannady put Loyola ahead by three, 28-25, and after Travis made the score 30-25, the Tigers closed out the first half on an 8-2 run to take a 33-32 lead at the break. 
 

Loyola had a good third quarter, outscoring the Tigers 22-10 to take a 54-43 advantage into the fourth quarter. Taylor Thomas led the way with 11 points in the frame, and Travis continued her solid play with another six. Travis began the third with a quick score, then Thomas started to get going, as the two combined for the first 11 points for the Wolf Pack on their way to a 43-36 lead with four minutes left. After two free throws by O'Dell, Thomas hit a 3-pointer to put Loyola up 10, 48-38, then three points by Thornton kept it at that margin a couple of minutes later, 51-41. Three free throws by Thomas in the final seconds brought the lead to 11 with 10 minutes left in the quarterfinal matchup. 
 

Thomas nailed a 3 to start the fourth, 57-43, as Stillman cut its deficit to eight a couple of times after that. That was as close as the Tigers could get, though, as scores by O'Dell and Travis pushed the lead back out to double digits, 62-51, with less than three minutes to go. After Stillman cut it to eight again, Cannady effectively put things away with a jumper and a free throw, 65-54. 
 

Pack Facts

• This is the 11th consecutive year in which Loyola has reached at least the semifinals of the SSAC Championship. 

• In her first start of the year, freshman Caitlin Travis led all scorers with a season-high 20 points on 6-of-8 from the field, 8-of-10 from the free throw line. She also grabbed eight boards. 

• After playing just five minutes with two points in the first half due to foul trouble, Taylor Thomas roared back with 14 points in the second half, sinking two threes with two assists.

• Thomas became the eighth player in program history to pass the 1,500-point mark. She now has 1,502 points in her Loyola career. 

• The team's three-point leader on the season, Thomas also moved into a tie for eighth on Loyola's all-time three-pointers list with Kaila Anthony, with 165 triples in her career. 

• Sandra Cannady picked up her 13th double-double of the year with 12 points and 12 rebounds, plus three steals, two assists, and a block. 

• Cannady is up to 871 rebounds in her career, which is now the fourth-most in program history. 

• Alissa O'Dell had her third game this year with double digit rebounds. She finished with eight points and 10 boards for the game. 
   

2024 SSAC Women's Basketball Championship Schedule

Wednesday, February 28
Game 1, 9:00 a.m. | #7 Brewton-Parker def. #10 UT Southern, 68-57
Game 2, 12:30 p.m. | #8 Stillman def. #9 Blue Mountain, 63-56
 

Thursday, February 29
Game 3, 9:00 a.m. | #3 Mobile def. #6 Point, 81-65
Game 4, 12:30 p.m. | #7 Brewton-Parker def. #2 William Carey, 56-45
Game 5, 4:30 p.m. | #1 Loyola def. #8 Stillman, 67-57
Game 6, 8:00 p.m. | #4 Faulkner def. #5 Life, 80-71
 

Friday, March 1
Game 7, 1:00 p.m. | #3 Mobile vs. #7 Brewton-Parker
Game 8, 5:00 p.m. | #1 Loyola vs. #4 Faulkner
 

Saturday, March 2
Championship Game, 4:00 p.m. | Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8