Dec. 20, 2006

Box Score

San Juan, Puerto Rico - Senior Marquise Hanser posted her second-straight 20-point game but Loyola went 9:18 without a field goal, bridging the two halves, and DePaul cruised to a 97-70 win tonight in the Ramblers' finale at the San Juan Shootout. Loyola drops to 1-9 on the year while the Blue Demons improve to 10-1 with the win.

"I was really pleased with the way we played in the second half," said head coach Shannon Reidy. "We executed very well and we took the ball at them over the last 20 minutes whereas I thought we came out tentative in the first half and you just cannot do that against a team like DePaul. However, these are the kinds of games that will help us heading into Horizon League play next week and to put together a solid second half against a nationally-ranked team gives us something to build on."

DePaul shot out of the gates and took a 13-4 lead after three minutes, as Loyola could not find the range offensively. However, hoops from Jenna Real, Cierra Thurman and Hanser helped the close within five (15-10) and a Maggie McCloskey three-pointer later in the period made it a 29-22 game with 7:44 on the clock. However, that would prove to be the Ramblers' final basket of the period and DePaul took advantage, reeling off 16 straight points before four Elyse VanBogaert free throws cut the margin to 19 (45-26) at halftime. The Ramblers had one of their coldest shooting halves of the season in the opening 20 minutes, knocking down just 8-of-29 (.276) from the floor.

Real finally broke the drought at the 18:26 mark of the second half, capping the stretch which saw Loyola miss nine straight shots and turn the ball over seven times. The hoop seemed to help the Ramblers gain confidence and find their rhythm, as Hanser knocked down a trey and Real followed with two more hoops inside. Hanser drilled back-to-back threes later in the period, getting a friendly roll plus a foul on the second one for a four-point play, as Loyola kept scrapping and McCloskey buried three more from distance the rest of the way.

Hanser, who played 39 minutes last night, equaled that total again tonight and finished with a game-high 20 points. Real also capped off a strong with with a 15-point, six-rebound effort while McCloskey buried five trifectas on the night to finish with a career-best 15 points while also adding five assists.

Despite the loss, Reidy was proud of the play of her two seniors - Hanser and Real - who averaged 21.5 ppg and 18.0 ppg, respectively.

"I think Marquise and Jenna just had an outstanding two days down here," said Reidy. "They are right where we want them to be heading into our Horizon League season. Everyone knows what Marquise means to this team and Jenna used this weekend to put a stamp on her play of late and help establish them as one of the top duos in the conference."

Loyola opens Horizon League play on Thur., Dec. 28 when it travels to Milwaukee to battle defending champion UW-Milwaukee. Tip-off from the Klotsche Center is set for 7 p.m.