GAME INFORMATION
Final Score: Northern Iowa 63, Loyola 52
Records: Northern Iowa (18-9, 13-3 MVC); Loyola (13-15, 9-8 MVC)
Location: McLeod Center -- Cedar Falls, Iowa
Stats: Box Score | Season Stats

In Short...
Northern Iowa used a second-half surge to defeat Loyola, 63-52, this afternoon at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Panthers remain at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference standings with the win, improving to 18-9 (13-3 Missouri Valley), while the Ramblers drop to 13-15 (9-8 Missouri Valley).

How It Happened
Offense was at a premium in the opening 10 minutes as both teams combined to miss their first nine shots. Becca Smith answered a Sharnae Lamar three with a triple of her own to knot the game up at 3-3 with 6:11 to play. Two Stephanie Davison makes from the free throw line saw Northern Iowa open up a four-point edge, 9-5, before a Taylor Manuel layup cut the margin to 9-7 after one.

Loyola used a 7-0 run, five of which came from Taylor Johnson, to race in front, 19-14, at the 5:27 mark of the second quarter. A put back by Ryaen Johnson two minutes later saw the Maroon & Gold open up its largest lead of the afternoon, 22-16. The hosts would strike last prior to halftime, cutting their deficit to two, 26-24, courtesy of a Mikaela Morgan three-point field goal.

A trey from Jen Keitel sent Northern Iowa back in front, 27-26, with only 36 seconds gone in the third quarter. Johnson pulled Loyola even, 29-29, with a split at the charity stripe but the Panthers responded with 10 of the game's next 12 points to open up a 39-31 lead at the 5:16 mark. Dakota Vann's first make of the afternoon saw the Ramblers close to within five, 42-37, with 3:45 to go. Vann would connect again from just inside the three-point arc to shave the Panther lead to eight, 49-41, heading to the fourth quarter.

After Davison buried a jumper to bump the Northern Iowa lead back into double digits, 51-41, early on in the final frame, Loyola struggled to put a dent in its deficit. A mid-range bucket from Johnson cut the deficit back down to 10 (57-47) with just over three minutes to play in regulation. Madison Weekly drained a shot distance shortly after to ignite a 6-0 spurt for the hosts that put the game away.

Inside The Box Score
- Johnson led the way for the Ramblers in the defeat, scoring a team-high 16 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal.
- Manuel wasn't far behind her redshirt junior counterpart as she chipped in 14 points of her own. The St. Louis, Mo. product also collected four rebounds, dished out three assists and came away with a steal.
- Weekly paced a balanced Northern Iowa attack that saw four Panthers reach double figures with a game-high 17 points.
- Northern Iowa connected on only two more shots from the field than Loyola on the afternoon but created separation from beyond the three-point arc as it knocked down nine shots from distance compared to Loyola's two.
- With today's result, Northern Iowa extended its lead in the all-time series between the two teams to 5-3 and is now a perfect 3-0 at the McLeod Center against the Ramblers.

Up Next
Loyola wraps up the regular season portion of its schedule on Saturday afternoon by returning to Gentile Arena to take on in-state rival Bradley. Senior Day festivities will precede the scheduled 3 p.m. tip-off against the Braves.