Jan. 11, 2007

Box Score

Fairborn, Ohio - Freshman Maggie McCloskey poured in a game-high 22 points, Marquise Hanser scored all 17 of her points in the second half and Jenna Real added 12 points and a career-high 15 rebounds as Loyola rebounded from a home loss last weekend with a 76-69 win over Wright State tonight at the Nutter Center in Fairborn, Ohio. Loyola moves to 3-12 (2-3 Horizon) with the win while setting Wright State back to 4-11 (2-2) with the loss.

McCloskey and Real took center stage in the first half as, after falling behind 7-2 in the early stages, Loyola got right back into the game with a 10-0 blitz, capped by a McCloskey three-pointer, to take a 12-7 lead after four minutes. After a Jessica Hylton hoop minutes later pushed the lead to six, Real scored LU's next eight as the Ramblers boosted their advantage to double digits (29-17) at the 6:14 mark. The Raiders made a late push, getting as close as five, before another Real hoop closed out the half with the Ramblers in front, 38-31. Loyola blazed away at a .567 clip (17 of 30) from the floor in the period, as McCloskey (14 points) and Real (12) led the way. Hanser missed all three of her shots in the period but was a key distributor, handing out six assists.

Hanser finally dented the scorebook in the opening minutes of the second half, bumping the lead to 11 (44-33) after two minutes. Wright State rallied to within five on a Sierra Crayton free throw but two Hanser threes sandwich another trey from McCloskey as the visitors rebuilt the lead to 12 with five minutes elapsed. The lead hovered between seven and nine points for the next five minutes before a 12-2 Rambler run gave LU its biggest lead of the night (70-55) at the 7:04 mark. Included in that spurt was a stretch in which Hanser either scored or assisted on 22 straight Rambler points. Wright State managed to get as close as eight, on a Brittney Whiteside hoop at the 2:23 mark, but McCloskey muscled in a lay-up in the paint on the ensuing possession and the Raiders would get no closer than the final margin.

McCloskey hit 8-of-10 shots overall and buried 6-of-8 from beyond the arc en route to her 22 points. Hanser added eight assists to her 17 points while Real's third double-double of the season gave the Ramblers a presence in the paint.

Loyola finished the game at .574 from the floor and held a 33-24 edge on the backboards. Whitney Lewis led Wright State with 21 points off the bench.

The Ramblers wrap up their road swing on Saturday afternoon against Butler.