Jan. 26, 2008

Box Score

Milwaukee, Wis. - Loyola shook off a sluggish start to put itself in position to win but Milwaukee made a couple of big plays down the stretch to claim a 54-51 win over the Ramblers this afternoon at the Klotsche Center in Milwaukee. Brittany Boeke paced three Loyola players in double figures with 12 points as the Ramblers slipped to 3-15 (1-6 Horizon). Milwaukee improved to 11-8 (6-2) with the win.

"I?was not happy with how we started the game and our execution over the first 5-10 minutes of the game," said head coach Shannon Reidy. "However, I thought we did a lot of good things over the 30 minutes and put them on their heels and put us in position to pull it out at the end. This game was a perfect example of the need for us to play a full 40 minutes in order to beat good teams."

Loyola opened the game lethargically, on both ends of the floor, and Milwaukee raced out to a 7-0 lead just under four minutes into the contest. A pair of Shannon Finnegan free throws at the 16:19 mark go the Ramblers on the board and they were held without a field goal until Finnegan scored off a nice feed from Maggie McCloskey over six minutes into the game. McCloskey knocked down a three-pointer to even the game at 7-all, as the LU defense held the Panthers without a point for five minutes. However, UWM knocked down a pair of triples in a 10-0 run that made it a 17-7 game but Loyola dug down and battled back again. Consecutive hoops from Elyse VanBogaert helped the Ramblers draw within four and, with points at a premium, a Jessica Hylton three-pointer and a hoop from Boeke actually gave Loyola a 23-22 lead in the final 20 seconds before Traci Edwards scored in the waning seconds to send Milwaukee to intermission with a 24-23 lead.

Boeke scored again on the opening possession of the second half to put LU back on top and a Finnegan basket minutes later helped the Ramblers extend to a three-point lead with 16:33 to play. After Milwaukee rallied to snatch a 33-29 lead, Loyola rattled off the next six, capped by a three-point play from Finnegan, to take a 35-33 lead midway through the period. Edwards helped the Panthers regain the lead a couple minutes later and LU was staring at a 46-41 deficit with 5:00 left when it made another push. Boeke scored two buckets - sandwiched around an Edwards free throw - to pull Loyola within two and the freshman scored again on a feed from Keisha Collins to make it a 47-47 game with 2:23 on the clock. The Ramblers had a chance to regain the lead after a defensive stop but turned the ball over. Jineen Williams made the first of two free throws but missed the second. However, Edwards secured the rebound and, on an ensuing foul, Turquoise McCain hit a pair from the stripe to give UWM?a 50-47 lead at the 1:28 mark. Collins drove the lane but came away empty on the next possession and McCain hit a clutch 12-footer as the shot clock wound down to make it a 52-47 game with 47 ticks remaining and Loyola would get no closer than the final score.

Boeke, who picked up three quick fouls in the first half, was solid inside all day and scored 10 of her team-high 12 points in the second half. Collins (10 points, five rebounds, six steals) and Finnegan (season-high 10 points) joined her in double figures. Edwards led all scorers with 22 points and nine rebounds.

Loyola returns home for a pair of games this coming week, starting with a Thursday night (Jan. 31) clash with Detroit at the Gentile Center.