CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (February 19, 2021)
 
In Short
Allison Day scored 16 points but it wasn't enough as Loyola University Chicago (9-7, 7-5 MVC) battled through a cold shooting night in a 78-51 loss to Northern Iowa (10-9, 7-5 MVC) tonight at the McLeod Center. The loss snaps the Ramblers' modest two-game winning streak.
 
How It Happened
A jumper by Day got Loyola within a point (9-8) in the first four minutes of the opening quarter, but the Panthers, behind six points from Cynthia Wolf, put together a 14-2 run that put the Ramblers in a 13-point hole (23-10).
 
Ellie Rice scored four of Loyola's first six points of the second quarter and her jumper with 7:55 left to go helped her squad cut UNI's lead down to 25-18. However, Wolf knocked down a three during a string of four unanswered tallies that nudged the Panthers' lead back to 11 (35-24) and UNI took a 39-28 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
 
Loyola played itself right back into the game at the outset of the second half, ripping off an 11-2 run, highlighted by eight points from Day, to close within a basket, at 41-39. 
 
A minute later, another bucket from Day got the Ramblers within three, at 44-41, but the host Panthers forced Loyola to miss seven of its final eight shots of the third quarter, while closing out the frame with a 10-3 run, to extend their lead to 54-44 heading into the fourth period.
 
Following a UNI three-pointer to open the fourth quarter scoring, Jala Johnson's layup trimmed the gap to 57-46, but UNI rattled off the next 19 points while Loyola misfired on its next eight field goal attempts to seal the outcome. 
 
A Look At The Numbers

• Despite Loyola's shooting struggles, Day knocked down 6 of 10 shots from the field to finish with a team-best 16 points, and the junior also snared seven rebounds.
• Bre Hampton-Bey was the only other Rambler to reach double digits, scoring 10 points, while Maya Chandler added nine points.
• Loyola shot just 33.3 percent (19-for-56) for the game, including 1-for-14 (.071) from three-point range, in suffering its eighth loss in nine all-time visits to Cedar Falls.
• Wolf paced UNI with 13 points and 12 boards.

 
Up Next
The Ramblers and Panthers match up again tomorrow at 4 p.m. to close out the two-game series at McLeod Center.