Nov. 21, 2013
Box Score
Charleston, Ill. - Jordyne Crunk hit two free throws with :00.9 seconds left to lift Eastern Illinois (1-3) to an 81-80 victory over Loyola (1-3) in a foul-filled contest tonight at Lantz Arena in Charleston, Ill. Taylor Johnson led three Ramblers in double figures with 21 points.
"Obviously this was not the outcome that we were looking for," said head coach Sheryl Swoopes. "When you're facing a team that has not won a game, you know they are going to play hard, especially at home and that's what Eastern Illinois did tonight. We did not execute our game plan or put together a solid 40 minutes."
Johnson got off to a hot start, and her and Becca Smith combined to score Loyola's first 13 points as the Ramblers jumped out to a 13-7 lead after five minutes. The lead grew to eight (20-12) on another Smith basket and Loyola took its largest lead of the half (27-18) on a pull-up jumper by Johnson at the 8:38 mark. However, Eastern Illinois responded with a 17-4 run that gave the home team a 35-31 lead but an Erin Thomas three-pointer and two Johnson free throws sent the Ramblers to the locker room trailing by just one, 37-36.
Limited to just three minutes in the first half due to foul, Troy Hambric got going early in the second half, following up two Simone Law free throws with a bucket to give Loyola a 56-52 lead just over seven minutes into the half. Eastern reclaimed the lead, 59-58, on a banked three-pointer from Sabina Oroszova before Katie Faught answered with one of her own on the other end to put LU back in front. The Panthers continued to get to the free throw line and opened up a six-point lead on an Oroszova three-point play before Loyola rallied. A Hambric basket and two free throws from Tiana Karopulos made it a two-point game and Karopulos added two more charity tosses to tie it at 78 with 1:00 to go.
Crunk split a pair of free throws to put Eastern Illinois back in front before Hambric scored again in the paint, giving the Ramblers an 80-79 lead with :17.3 left. The Panthers nearly threw the ball away and were forced into a timeout with :03.6 left. Off the inbounds, Crunk drove the baseline and got fouled with :00.9 left. She knocked down the two free throws and Loyola's final heave fell short.
Johnson finished with 21 points, six rebounds, four steals and two blocks to lead the Ramblers. Karopulos and Hambric, who combined for zero points in the first half, responded to finish with 13 and 12, respectively. Smith finished with nine off the bench and Law added eight (6-7 FTs) in 11 minutes off the bench in her first action of the season.
Loyola returns to action on Saturday afternoon when it takes on Western Illinois. Tip-off from Macomb is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
