CHICAGO – Playing sound basketball, the Loyola University Chicago women's basketball team had half as many turnovers as Eastern Illinois, leading to a 58-44 win Saturday afternoon inside Gentile Arena. The Panthers' 44 points were the least Loyola has allowed this season as the Ramblers improved to 4-4.

Alyssa Fisher scored a game-high 16 points while Thoranna Kika Hodge-Carr added a season-high 12 points and seven boards.

"I'm really proud of our team's effort in finding a way to get a win against a very well coached Eastern Illinois team," said head Loyola coach Allison Guth. "I think the biggest thing for us was finding a way to make some adjustments and limiting Miah Monahan, a terrific post player for Eastern Illinois. We held her to 10 points in the first half and then she didn't score in the second half, which was key to our win tonight with our defensive effort,"

How it Happened
Sam Galanopoulos started the Ramblers' (4-4) scoring efforts with a trey off an EIU (1-6) turnover. Then, a quick 8-0 run, following a Panthers' layup at 8:08, gave Loyola Chicago an 11-4 advantage before the first media timeout. Loyola later followed with a 9-2 run, making the score 22-12 as the squad shot 56.3-percent from the field and 50-percent from deep through the first 10 minutes.    

EIU found its footing in the second quarter and started things off on an 8-0 run to shrink the Maroon and Gold's lead to 22-20. The two teams went back-and-forth from there, trading buckets until Sitori Tanin's layup in the paint ended the quarter with Loyola in the lead, 32-29.

Coming out of the locker room, Ali Berg got to the line and sank a free throw to start things off, but two free throws and a layup on the other end from EIU knotted the score at 33-33. Neck-and-neck through the frame, Thoranna Kika Hodge-Carr ended the 10 minutes with a layup – her eighth points of the day and a new season-high.

In the final quarter, Loyola Chicago out-scored Eastern Illinois, 14-4. Additionally, the team held EIU scoreless in the final 6:31 minutes of action, allowing Loyola to finish the game on a 10-0 run and seal their fourth victory of the season.

Notes

• Galanopoulos' three steals tied her career high and are a new season-high for the grad student.
• Hodge-Carr's three steals and 12 points are a new personal season-highs.
• Hodge-Carr tied her season-high with seven rebounds.
• This was Hodge-Carr's 16^th-career double-digit scoring game and her first at Loyola.
• Tanin's four assists tied her season and career-high.
• Fisher's team-high 16 points were her 56th career double-digit scoring game and her fifth this season.
• Fisher's five assists tied her season and career-high.
• Kira Chivers' four rebounds are a new season-high.
• The win marked Guth's 10^th-career victory at Loyola.
• The Ramblers scored 13 points off Eastern Illinois' 24 turnovers.
• The 'Blers owned 17 assists on 22 made field goals.
• The Ramblers outscored Eastern Illinois, 22-12, in the first quarter, a new season-high point total for the first quarter.
• For the fifth-straight game, Loyola has outscored their opponent in the first quarter.

Up Next
The Ramblers return to action Saturday (Dec. 9) for another home matchup. The team will face Milwaukee at 2 p.m. inside Gentile with the game airing live on ESPN+.