Nov. 12, 2006

Box Score

CHICAGO - Senior guard Marquise Hanser poured in a team-high 24 points but it was not enough as Northwestern earned a 78-60 win over the Ramblers this afternoon at the Gentile Center in Loyola's season opener. Northwestern improves to 2-0 with the victory.

"The two key stats in the game were Northwestern outrebounding us by 16 in the second half and getting to the line 17 more times," said head coach Shannon Reidy. "Neither team really changed anything at halftime, they were just more aggressive than we were in the second half. They have three quality guards that are upperclassmen and we have Marquise and freshmen playing in their first game, and I think that was a big part of it."

Both teams came out gunning in the first half and senior center Emily Ponder scored six of LU's first nine points in the opening four minutes. A Hanser three-pointer gave the Ramblers their first lead (12-10) and a Jessica Hylton triple and layup from Elyse VanBogert helped Loyola extend to a 17-12 lead with just under eight minutes elapsed. A pair of Jennifer Juergens free throws bumped the lead to seven and, even though Northwestern pulled within one, Loyola played from the lead the rest of the period. A Maggie McCloskey three-pointer from the top of the key extended the lead to six (30-24) at the 4:03 mark but the Ramblers stagnated on offense the rest of the half. Jenna Real scored LU's only points over the final 4:03, a layup with seven seconds left, to make it a 32-29 lead before NU's Kristin Cartwright hit a long three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to send the teams to the locker room tied at 32. Hanser (11) and Ponder (8) combined for 19 of Loyola's 32 points in the period while Nadia Bibbs drilled three trifectas of her own en route to 11 points in the half.

Northwestern came out aggressively in the second half and started to get hot from the three-point line. Sara Stutz hit a pair from distance before Beth Marshall drained another one to give the visitors a 48-38 lead with 14:41 to go. Loyola continued to battle, and five quick Hanser points later drew LU within seven, 53-46, with plenty of time on the clock. A Ponder baseline jumper kept the deficit right there with an even 8:00 remaining but Loyola was soon over the foul limit and Northwestern was able to rebuild the lead from the line after keeping possessions alive on the offensive glass.

After enjoying a 20-17 edge on the backboards in the opening half, Loyola was outrebounded 26-10 in the second half, including 13-4 on the offensive end. That discrepancy helped, in part, to explain a 17-1 edge in points from the foul line in the period.

Hanser drilled 9-of-20 from the floor, including 5-of-10 from the arc, en route to her 24 points. Ponder finished with 10 points while Juergens contributed seven points, a team-high eight rebounds and three steals in her Loyola debut. Stutz was the story in the second half for NU, scoring 22 of her game-high 26 points after halftime.

Loyola returns to action on Tuesday night (Nov. 14) when it takes on Illinois State at the Gentile Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.