Mobile defeats Loyola

NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans women's basketball suffered its second Southern States Athletic Conference loss of the season on Saturday, losing to Mobile, 85-76, in The Den. The Wolf Pack is now 17-3 overall and 11-2 in league play, and they're still a half-game ahead of the Rams at the top of the SSAC standings with one matchup left between the two teams. 
 

The Rams started the game by taking a 5-0 lead in the first minute. Then, triples from Taylor Thomas and Deniya Thornton, along with a jumper from Lizzy Ratcliff gave Loyola the lead, 8-7. Quickly, Mobile took the lead back with a layup, but a Sandra Cannady 3-pointer put the Pack on top. After exchanging leads with the Wolf Pack, the Rams held the lead through the end of the first quarter, 24-18.
 

Libby Thompson and Caitlin Travis scored their first points during the first couple minutes of the second quarter, cutting the deficit to six, 29-23. Mobile, however, pushed its lead back out to nine, 35-26, a couple of minutes later. Bria McClure answered a Rams score when they stretched their lead to double digits, and Thompson knocked down a 3 to bring it back down to six, 37-31, with more than four minutes until halftime. After Mobile went up 39-31, the Pack converted a Mobile technical foul into three made free throws, 39-34, and Alissa O'Dell put back her own miss to trim the score to 39-37. Then after Thomas made a 3-point attempt, the graduate student tied the game with 90 seconds left on the clock. The Rams would take a 44-42 in the break, though. 
 

The two teams went shot for shot to start the second half, as scores from Cannady and Thomas helped Loyola take a 47-46 lead, but the Rams answered to go back up by three, 50-47. Cannady scored again, then Sydni Tangle and Morgan Hervey made their first shots to put Loyola back on top, 53-52, halfway through the third quarter. McClure stopped a quick 7-0 run for Mobile, 59-55, but the Rams led 61-57 entering the fourth quarter. 
 

Mobile built a 66-59 lead after the first two and a half minutes of the fourth quarter. Three points by Cannady and two free throws from Thomas made it a two-point game, but Mobile nailed a three to extend it to 69-64 at the halfway point of the frame. Mobile answered Loyola again, this time with back-to-back 3s, 75-66, as the visitors would hold on from there. 
 

Pack Facts

• Taylor Thomas had her highest-scoring game of the season, finishing with 21 points to go along with three assists, two steals, two rebounds, and a block.

• Thomas now has 1,399 points in her Loyola career, passing Kennedy Hansberry for ninth on the Wolf Pack's all-time scoring list. 

• Sandra Cannady was the other double-digit scorer for the Pack with 18. 

• Alissa O'Dell had her first 10-rebound game for the Pack. 

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