CHICAGO (February 8, 2020)

In Short…
Led by a dominant effort from Tiara Wallace, Loyola University Chicago cruised to a 77-47 victory over visiting Evansville (3-19, 0-11 MVC) this afternoon inside Gentile Arena.  The win, Loyola's second in as many games, moves the Ramblers to 15-7 overall and back over the .500 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play at 6-5.
 
How It Happened
After trading scores early on, a Jala Johnson layup with just under three minutes gone sparked a 10-0 Loyola run, the last five of which came from Wallace, as the Ramblers opened up a 16-6 lead at the 5:14 mark.  Abby O'Connor finished off a fastbreak to stretch the margin to 20-9 with 2:04 to go before Makayla Wallace beat the buzzer to get the Purple Aces back within single digits, 20-11.
 
Evansville continued to battle in the second quarter, cutting Loyola's lead to 21-16 on a Jada Poland jumper in the paint less than a minute in.  After another Makayla Wallace triple trimmed the margin to 26-19, the Maroon & Gold would hold Evansville scoreless for the final 7:48 of the half and race into the locker room on a 16-0 run, punctuated by an O'Connor three, that gave Loyola a 42-19 advantage.
 
Wallace picked up right where she left off in the second half, attacking the basket for two more less than 30 seconds in to stretch the lead to 44-19.  Back-to-back makes from Kat Nolan and Sam Galanopoulos just past the midway point of the third quarter pushed the gap to 50-23.  Evansville would fail to get closer than 20 the rest of the way, as Loyola wrapped up a successful sweep of its two-game homestand.  
 
Inside The Box Score
- Wallace turned in a scintillating showing, finishing with a game-high 26 points (10-13 FGs, 1-2 3FGs, 5-5 FTs) and 13 rebounds, both career high marks.  The Berkeley, Ill. native also handed out six assists, committing no turnovers, in addition to a block and three steals.
- O'Connor added 12 points (5-10 FGs, 2-4 3FGs) and grabbed 12 rebounds en route to her 12^th career double-double.
- Nolan also reached double figures in scoring, coming off the bench to add 10 points (3-5 FGs, 2-2 3FGs, 2-2 FTs).
- Loyola finished the day at just under 47 percent (30-of-64) from the field and held Evansville to just 36 percent (20-of-56) efficiency, forcing the Purple Aces into 18 turnovers.  The Ramblers are now a perfect 11-0 when holding opponents to under 40 percent shooting this season.
- Makayla Wallace led Evansville with 11 points (4-5 FGs, 3-3 3FGs).  
 
Up Next
Loyola heads downstate next week for matchups with Illinois State (February 14) and Bradley (February 16).