Dec. 8, 2011
Box Score
CHICAGO - Playing its first game in the remodeled Gentile Arena, Loyola shot just 34% and dropped a 48-45 game to La Salle tonight. The Ramblers (4-4) drop back to .500 with the loss while La Salle moves to 3-7 with the win.
"It certainly was a frustrating night for us tonight," said head coach Eric Simpson. "We were out of sync, especially offensively, and could never get into a flow. I thought we played fairly well defensively. When you hold a team to 48 points at home you should win the game."
Loyola was sluggish from the outset and was scoreless for the first 5:45 before two Patrice King free throws got them on the board. After missing its first 10 shots from the floor, King finally knocked down the team's first field goal and a Katie Kortekamp three-pointer later gave LU its first lead, 9-8. The Ramblers trudged to a 17-15 lead on a Lisa Samplawski bucket with 5:18 left in the half but the Explorers outscored the home team 15-6 the rest of the way to take a 30-23 lead into intermission.
The Ramblers were a different team in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring 11 of the first 13 points of the period to take a 34-32 lead. Points were still at a premium but it appeared as if Loyola had finally found some sort of rhythm, taking a 43-40 lead with 5:13 left after two straight King baskets. However, LU scored just two points the rest of the way with Abby Skube's potential game-tying three-pointer rejected at the final buzzer.
Loyola held La Salle to just 24% shooting in the second half and forced 24 turnovers for the game. However, they turned those turnovers into just 16 points and missed all five of its second-half free throws, shooting just 5-of-12 (42%) from the line for the game.
King led the Ramblers with 13 points with Monica Albano, in her first game back after missing the last three contests with an injury, added 10 points.
Loyola returns to the court on Saturday afternoon when it battles Northwestern at Gentile Arena. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on Lakeshore Public Television.
