KALAMAZOO, Mich. (November 7, 2022)
 
In Short
Making her Loyola debut, head coach Allison Guth picked up her 100th career win Monday night as the Ramblers led wire-to-wire in a 60-51 season-opening win at Western Michigan. Junior guard Maya Chandler scored a team-high 14 points, while senior guard Anna Brown went 3 of 3 from three-point range and nearly posted a double-double with 11 points and nine boards. With the win, Loyola (1-0) claimed its fourth straight victory in a season opener.
 
How It Happened
Chandler's first of two 3-pointers opened the scoring as Loyola raced out to a 9-2 lead midway through the first period. The Ramblers made 7 of 11 attempts (63.6%) from the field in the first quarter, while limiting the Broncos to just 3-of-12 shooting (25%) to build a 16-8 lead.
 
Loyola kept it rolling in the second quarter, as a layup from senior guard Sam Galanopoulos gave the Ramblers a double-digit lead, 23-12, at the 5:40 mark. Freshman guard Kira Chivers made an impact in her debut, scoring six of her nine points in the second period to help push the Ramblers in front by 15 at the halftime break, 31-15.
 
Loyola didn't allow a made 3-pointer by WMU until the third quarter, limiting the Broncos to a combined 29% shooting clip over the first two periods. The Ramblers were shooting 62% at the break.
 
Junior forward Sitori Tanin opened the third quarter with a layup to extend Loyola's lead to 17 points – the largest margin of the night.
 
But, WMU chipped away and brought the deficit back down to single digits. After a pair of free throws from Chandler with three minutes left in the third gave Loyola a 41-30 lead, the Broncos went on a 10-2 run that spilled into the fourth quarter. A fastbreak layup with 8:32 remaining in the game got WMU within three at 43-40 and forced a Loyola timeout, but the Ramblers responded as Chandler drained a huge trey on the next possession.
 
With under three minutes left in regulation, Loyola went up nine on Chivers' first career made 3-pointer to give the Ramblers a 54-45 advantage. The Broncos sliced the deficit to six after a timeout with 1:38 to play, but the Ramblers answered again from deep as Brown drilled her third trey to move back ahead by nine with a minute left.
 
Loyola has won the previous two meetings between the two teams.
 
Inside The Box Score

• Loyola shot a sizzling 62% (23-37) overall from the field including 60% (6-10) from three-point range, while limiting WMU to 45% shooting overall and 12.5% (2-16) from three-point range
• Chandler (14 pts) shot 5 of 7 from the field, including 2 of 2 from beyond the arc and 2 for 2 at the line
• Brown (11 pts) went a perfect 3 of 3 from three-point range and finished 4 of 5 overall from the floor
• Four players had two assists for Loyola (Galanopoulos, Tanin, Brown and Sophia Nolan)
• Galanopoulos recorded seven points, five boards, two assists and two steals
• Tanin finished with eight points and five rebounds
• Four Ramblers made their debut in Maroon & Gold, including Kira Chivers, Sophia Nolan, Mallory Ramage and Whitney Dunn
• Loyola's bench outscored WMU's reserves by a 13-2 margin

Up Next
Loyola continues non-conference play Thursday night when it travels to Milwaukee in a 7 p.m. tipoff.