Dec. 22, 2012

Box Score | Photo Gallery

CHICAGO - Freshman Taylor Johnson and sophomore Simone Law each posted double-doubles, albeit in different ways, as Loyola breezed into the holiday break with an 81-43 win over Chicago State this afternoon at Gentile Arena. The Ramblers improve to 4-6 with the win and send the Cougars to 1-11 on the season with the loss.

Two Law baskets and a three-pointer from Ayrealle Beavers accounted for the points as Loyola scored the first seven of the game to take the early lead. Chicago State managed to rattle off seven of the next nine before the Ramblers took command. Consecutive transition baskets from Johnson gave Loyola its first double-digit lead of the game (21-9) and an Abby Skube bucket later capped an 18-2 run that gave LU a 30-11 lead with 5:52 left in the half. The margin got as high as 23 on a Skube free throw in the final 90 seconds of the half before the Ramblers settled for a 40-18 lead at halftime. Law and Johnson were the catalysts, scoring 13 and 10 points respectively in the period while Law added eight rebounds and Johnson eight steals.

Loyola picked up where it left off after the break, opening the second half on a 15-4 run - with seven of the points coming from Law - to put the game away, as the margin never slipped under 31 points over the final 15 minutes.

The Ramblers shot a sterling 47% from the floor for the game as nine of the 11 players who saw action scratched the scoring column. Their active defense also played a big role, as the team recorded 20 steals, its most in a game since recording 20 against Bradley on Jan. 4, 199, and held the Cougars to 28% field goal shooting.

Johnson finished with a terrific stat line of 12 points, five rebounds and 10 steals in just 20 minutes of action. Her 10 steals are one shy of Loyola's single-game record, done twice by Veronica Pettry, most recently on March 4, 1989 against Detroit.

Law notched her fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 20 points and 12 boards to go with three steals and three blocks, and Loyola also got solid contributions from Skube (nine points, seven rebounds) and others, as eight Ramblers scored at least six points.

After an abbreviated break for the Christmas holiday, Loyola returns to action next Saturday night with a 7 p.m. game at Marquette.