Nov. 11, 2011
Box Score | Notes
CHICAGO - Troy Hambric scored a career-high 23 points and Patrice King added 21 in her first game as a Rambler as Loyola scored the first 14 points of the game and never looked back in a 77-34 win over Chicago State in the season opener for both teams at the Jones Convocation Center.
"Everything started with our defense tonight," said head coach Eric Simpson. "We pressured the ball, were active with our hands and did a nice job playing team defense and that helped us on the offensive end. It was a total team effort tonight and it was a great way to start the season."
Katie Kortekamp got the game started with a bucket on the opening possession and the Ramblers kept pushing, opening a 14-0 on a Hambric basket with less than five minutes gone. Loyola kept the home team off the scoreboard for the first 5:30 but Chicago State had few answers and the Ramblers opened a 26-5 lead on a Simone Law basket with 7:16 left, eventually leading by as many as 24 in the period before settling for a 38-15 lead at intermission.
The second half was more of the same as the Ramblers were able to get points off their defense and shared the ball to get open shots. A King three-pointer pushed the lead over 30 for the first time (58-26) with just under 11 minutes to play and a basket from Law made it a 68-28 game with 6:54 left before Simpson cleared the bench.
Loyola shot 53% from the field for the game, including 65% in the second half, while holding Chicago State to just 26% for the game. In addition, the Ramblers had 19 steals and forced 26 Cougars turnovers leading to 29 points.
Hambric was terrific, hitting 11-of-16 from the floor and finishing with 23 points, seven rebounds and five steals. King, in her first appearance after transferring from Ball State, knocked down all four of her three-point attempts and finished with 21 points, nine boards and six steals while Law racked up 15 points and nine boards in just 19 minutes in her collegiate debut.
"It was important for us to get the season off to a good start," said Hambric. "We have high expectations this year and we learned a lot from our exhibition game and were able to improve on some things. We played hard and aggressively on both ends of the floor, shared the ball and good things happen when you do that."
Loyola returns to the floor on Sunday afternoon when it takes on Northern Illinois. Tip-off from North Park University is scheduled for 1 p.m.
