In Short…
Loyola University Chicago gave city-rival No. 16/16 DePaul (10-2) all it could handle this evening at Gentile Arena, overcoming a 14-point deficit to take a trio of fourth-quarter leads before ultimately falling to the Blue Demons by a final count of 83-76. Tonight's result from Rogers Park sees Loyola's season-opening nine-game win streak brought to an end, moving the Ramblers to 9-1 on the year.
How It Happened
Dee Bekelja drained back-to-back threes on DePaul's first two possessions of the night to quickly put the Blue Demons in front, 6-0, with less than a minute gone. With the visitors' lead sitting at 8-2, an
Abby O'Connor trey sparked a surge that saw Loyola rattle off 10 of the game's next 14 points, the last two of which came on a
Jala Johnson layup that evened the score at 12-12 at the 5:11 mark. DePaul responded with a push of its own, opening up a 30-21 lead after Chante Stonewall narrowly beat the buzzer at the end of the first quarter.
Another O'Connor triple and a
Kat Nolan split at the free throw line pulled Loyola back within five, 30-25, with 8:14 remaining in the first half. DePaul locked in defensively, holding the Ramblers to just one make from the field over the next 5:02 as it built a 42-28 edge. With the deficit sitting at 44-32 after a Deja Church jumper, Loyola finished the half with a flurry from distance, as
Tiara Wallace and O'Connor drained three-point field goals on consecutive trips to move the Ramblers back down only six, 44-38, heading to halftime.
DePaul continued to keep Loyola at an arm's distance early on in the third quarter. After two Wallace free throws trimmed the gap to single digits, 51-42, layups from
Ellie Rice and Johnson, respectively, had the Ramblers down five, 51-46, at the 3:49 mark. Another Gonzales three cut the deficit to four, 53-49, just over 30 seconds later. The Blue Demons again answered back, reestablishing a seven-point edge on a Stonewall fastbreak score with 1:03 to go, but Loyola refused to go away, with Gonzales connecting again from deep to make it a one-possession game, 58-55, at the end of the third quarter.
Loyola's bench stepped up in the opening stages of the final frame.
Maya Dunson banged home her lone triple of the evening before a second-chance score from Johnson sliced the DePaul lead to just one, 63-62, with 7:11 remaining. After seeing the Blue Demons push their advantage back to five, 67-62, Johnson nailed a pair of threes, the second of which gave Loyola its first lead of the night, 68-67, and brought the Gentile Arena crowd out of its seats. The two teams would trade the lead four times over the next 2:16, with Loyola taking a slim 72-71 lead following two
Allison Day free throws. DePaul would prove to have the final answer on the night. Sonya Morris knocked down a three that edged the Blue Demons back in front, 74-72, and ignited a 7-0 run that saw DePaul push its lead to 78-72 with 2:21 to play. Day finished inside just under the two-minute mark to claw the Ramblers back within four, 78-74, but Loyola would get no closer before time expired on its upset bid.
Inside The Box Score
- O'Connor (4-7 FGs, 4-4 3FGs, 4-4 FTs) and Day (6-8 FGs, 4-5 FTs) paced the Ramblers on the evening with 16 points apiece. Following her performance this evening, O'Connor, who also ripped down a team-best nine rebounds, is just 87 points shy of 1,000 for her career.
- Johnson was terrific off the bench, adding 14 points (6-9 FGs, 2-2 3FGs) in addition to five rebounds, while Wallace narrowly missed out on a double-double, chipping in 11 points (2-8 FGs, 1-3 3FGs, 6-10 FTs) and a career-high tying nine assists.
- Loyola shot a season-best 50 percent (11-of-22) from three-point land as part of an evening in which it finished just over 46 percent (25-of-54) from the floor.
- DePaul's vaunted pressure defense was on full display, forcing the Maroon & Gold into 28 turnovers that resulted in 21 points on the offensive end.
- Stonewall poured in a game-high 25 points to lead a group of five Blue Demons in double figures.
Up Next
Loyola wraps up the non-conference portion of its 2019-20 schedule by hosting Western Michigan at 7 p.m. on Monday, December 30.
