Box Score | Highlights | Postgame Comments

CHICAGO - Loyola erased an 11-point deficit in the final 3:33 of regulation, forcing overtime, before ultimately falling to Southern Illinois by a final count of 74-70 this afternoon on Senior Day at Gentile Arena. The win pushes the Salukis to 17-11 overall (10-7 Missouri Valley), while the Ramblers see their three-game home winning streak come to an end as they drop to 5-22 on the season (3-13 Missouri Valley).

Two members of Loyola's senior class, Molly Crosby and Courtney Lindfors, helped get the Ramblers off to a fast start following an emotional pregame ceremony. Crosby, out of Auburn Township, Ohio, scored 38 seconds in to put Loyola on the board first (2-0). A Lindfors rejection on Southern Illinois' next possession led to an old-fashioned three-point play from Crosby that had the Ramblers up five (5-0) and brought the home crowd to its feet early.

Kylie Giebelhausen followed up a Dyana Pierre layup to knot the game up at five all with 17:56 to play in the first half. Loyola's defense went on to hold the Salukis scoreless for the next 7:48 as the Ramblers took off on a 10-0 spurt, nine of which came from Taylor Manuel, to build a 15-5 lead with 11:03 to play. The visitors slowly chipped away as they found their touch from the field, climbing back to within five (23-18) on a Rishonda Napier triple with four minutes to play. Loyola responded with six on the half's final eight points to race into halftime with a 29-20 lead.

Despite only connecting on 9-of-24 attempts (38%) in the opening stanza, the Ramblers held the Salukis to only seven makes from the field (24%). Manuel posted game-high marks in both points (11) and rebounds (4) during the first 20 minutes of play. Taylor Johnson also chipped in seven points of her own. Ariel Haynes finished the half with four points to lead Southern Illinois on the offensive end.

The Salukis came out of the locker room firing to begin the second half. Back-to-back layups from Macklin sliced the Ramblers' lead to five (29-24) and prompted an early Loyola timeout. Manuel and Crosby looked to stymie Southern Illinois' momentum, scoring on consecutive possessions to bump the lead back up to nine (33-24) at the 17:45 mark. Pierre's first field goal of the half chipped the margin to three (37-34) at the under 16-minute media timeout (15:01). Celina VanHyfte gave the Salukis their first lead of the game (38-37) with 13:30 to play on a mid-range jumper. Two Manuel makes from the charity stripe had the Ramblers back in front (39-38) momentarily before Southern Illinois used a 17-4 run to open up what would be its largest lead of the afternoon (56-43) with 8:48 to play in regulation.

Two buckets from Manuel had Loyola trailing by only six (58-52) with six minutes to go before the visitors extended their lead out to 11 (63-52) on another Giebelhausen triple with 3:33 to play. Manuel muscled up a shot in the paint on the following possession to trim the margin back into single digits before Sam Lambrigtsen knocked down Loyola's first shot of the day from beyond the three-point arc to cut the Saluki advantage to six (63-57) with 2:19 remaining. A three-point play from Simone Law sliced the margin in half (63-60) with only a minute to play.

Giebelhausen connected on a pair of free throws to make it a two possession game (65-60) with 38 seconds remaining. After making the first of two free throws on the next possession, Manuel collected her own miss and was fouled, draining the ensuing two to help claw the Ramblers to within two points (65-63) with nine seconds showing on the clock. Following a Rambler timeout after Macklin misfired on the front end of a one-and-one, Lambrigtsen found a streaking Manuel, who converted on a layup as time expired to tie the game at 65 all, sending Loyola into only its second overtime game of the season.

Neither team was able to gain separation in the opening minutes of the extra session. Mercedes Griffin and Law traded one-for-two trips at the free throw line as the game stood even at 66 with 90 seconds gone. Napier connected on a contested jumper to regain the lead for her side (68-66) with 3:16 to play. Manuel answered by hitting on three of four attempts from the free throw line over the Ramblers' next two trips down the floor to give Loyola its first lead (69-68) since the 13:16 mark of the second half. After Napier converted on two shots from the line, Johnson split two chances to the tie the game again (70-70) with 1:42 to play. A Griffin layup with only 51 seconds to go edged Southern Illinois in front (72-70). Two more Napier free throws put a dagger in any hopes of another comeback as the Salukis escaped with a 74-70 victory.

Manuel finished with a career-high 36 points, just two off the single-game program record set by Mary Schoenhoff during the 1980-81 season. The St. Louis, Mo. native also ripped down 11 boards to notch her fifth double-double of the conference season. She was joined in double figures in scoring by Johnson, who added ten points. Napier led the Salukis with 20 points on the afternoon.

Loyola hits the road to wrap up the 2014-15 regular season in the state of Iowa next week. The Ramblers will open their two-game swing through the Hawkeye State on Thursday evening when they take on the Northern Iowa Panthers. Tip-off from the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls in slated for 7 p.m.