Women’s basketball loses season-opener to No. 11 Langston

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Loyola University New Orleans women's basketball team traveled to Lawrence, Kansas, this weekend to open its season with a pair of games. The Wolf Pack first played Langston University (Okla.), as they lost the season-opener, 69-64, to the 11th-ranked Lions. 
 

Loyola will next play the host school, Haskell Indian Nations University, at 11 a.m. on Saturday.  
 

Both teams had a little trouble finding the bottom of the net through the first five minutes of the game, as Loyola led 6-4 thanks to scores by Alissa O'Dell, SeQuoia Carroll and Tiarra McPipe. Langston shot 0-for-6 during that time, using four free throws to get its four points. McPipe converted an old-fashioned 3-point play, then Deniya Thornton scored her first points, but the Lions led 15-11 with two minutes left in the quarter. Jamyne Gilbert hit two free throws and Thornton scored again, as Langston held the 18-15 advantage after 10 minutes of play. 
 

A combination of Gilbert and McPipe helped flip the lead to Loyola, 19-18, then Addison Luker had a score and a free throw to put the Pack up four, 22-18, two minutes into the second. Carroll kept it a four-point game, 24-20, a minute later, but a 13-3 run for the Lions gave them the 33-27 lead at the break. 
 

Loyola tied the game at 40-all more than halfway through the third quarter, using six points from Caitlin Travis in the process. Thornton got the Wolf Pack on the board first, 33-29, and Chandler Caver scored her first points in a Loyola uniform, 35-31. From there, Travis made a free throw and a field goal before 3s by Travis and McPipe to tie the game. Langston quickly extended its lead back out to seven, 47-40, taking a 47-42 lead into the final quarter. 
 

The fourth quarter was the highest-scoring quarter for both teams, each putting up 22 points. After the Lions scored the first six points of the fourth, 53-42, five points from Thornton powered an 8-0 run for Loyola to get back to within three, 53-50. O'Dell kept it there a minute later, 55-52, but Langston extended its advantage back out to multiple possessions for good en route to its win over the Wolf Pack. 
 

Pack Facts

• Deniya Thornton posted 15 points, plus eight rebounds, five steals, and a block, All were team highs. 

• Caitlin Travis tied Thornton with 15 points, with eight of those coming at the free throw line. 

• Off the bench, freshman Tiarra McPipe was Loyola's third double-digit scorer in her collegiate debut, finishing with 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting. 

• In her first game in a Wolf Pack uniform, SeQuoia Carroll put up nine points and seven rebounds.