MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Loyola Wolf Pack's quest for another Southern States Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Championship title ended on Friday, losing to Mobile in the semifinal round, 72-61.
The Pack is now 18-11 overall, and they'll now wait to see if they've made the NAIA National Championship tournament field with an at-large bid. The NAIA Women's Basketball Selection show will be broadcast at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 6.
Mobile took an early lead and forced Loyola to start 0-for-6 from the field, and that early success helped the Rams take a 9-4 lead just after the halfway mark of the opening quarter. An Alissa O'Dell score make it a three-point deficit, but Mobile pulled back ahead by multiple possessions soon after, 16-8. Joclyen Wyatt scored the final five points for Loyola, as the Rams took a 20-13 lead into the second quarter.
MG Lymon fought off Mobile's attempt to make it a double-digit lead early in the second quarter, but it eventually did, 27-15, two and a half minutes into the period. Five second-quarter points from O'Dell, and scores by Deniya Thornton, Caitlin Travis and Lymon were not enough to keep up with the opposition either, as the Rams built a 41-28 advantage by halftime.
The two teams played an even first eight minutes of the second half, as Travis and Lymon led the team with six and five points, respectively, to keep it a 13-point game, 56-43. The Wolf Pack had a good close to the quarter, though, with Loyola's defense forcing Mobile to miss its last five shots to help make it a nine-point game, 56-47, with 10 minutes left.
Wyatt was on fire to start the fourth quarter, making a two-point bucket before one from beyond the arc. Then two free throws from the graduate student got Loyola to within five, 59-54, with 7:38 on the clock. The Wolf Pack made it a four-point game when Thornton hit a 3 on Loyola's next trip down the floor, 61-57, but that would be the closest they'd get to Mobile.
Pack Facts
SSAC Championship Schedule
Wednesday, Feb. 26 at the Multiplex
Game 1 | #8 Blue Mountain def. #9 Point, 55-44
Game 2 | #7 Faulkner def. #10 Thomas, 73-61
Thursday, Feb. 27 at the Multiplex
Game 3 | #4 UT Southern def. #5 Brewton-Parker, 68-63
Game 4 | 12:30p | #8 Blue Mountain def. #1 William Carey, 60-57
Game 5 | #2 Loyola def. #7 Faulkner, 69–59
Game 6 | #3 Mobile def. #6 Life, 55-49
Friday, Feb. 28 at the Multiplex
Game 7 | #8 Blue Mountain def. #4 UT Southern, 75-68
Game 8 | #3 Mobile def. #2 Loyola, 72-61
Saturday, Mar. 1 at the Multiplex
Championship Game | 4:00p | #8 Blue Mountain vs. #3 Mobile
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