IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Loyola University Chicago women's basketball team led by as many as seven points versus No. 4 Iowa, but a second-half surge from the reigning national runners-up propelled them past Loyola Chicago, 98-69.

"I really think that we tried to make some adjustments at half to expose a couple things we saw, we just got stagnant with the ball," said head Loyola coach Allison Guth. "I think it was ball movement issues and what we're doing - we liked the way we were making it hop in the first half. We started to look at one screen isolation and force some things up. It put us in a bad position,"

How it Happened
Sam Galanopoulos scored the first points of the contest – a layup on the fast break. Later in the first quarter, with Loyola (6-5) trailing, 19-12, Sophia Nolan nailed a jumper at 2:44 before blocking a layup on the other end. Ali Berg snagged the rebound and tossed it upcourt where Sophia Nolan drained a trey to cut the deficit to two points. Alyssa Fisher beat the first-quarter buzzer with a layup as the 'Blers shot the ball 42-percent (8-19) from the field to start things off.

In the second quarter, Loyola regained the lead after taking off on a 10-0 run. Then, Thoranna Kika Hodge-Carr's 3-pointer gave the Ramblers a 35-28 advantage with 6:38 to play in the first half.

Iowa (12-1, 1-0 Big Ten) found its footing and began to claw back in the second half of the second quarter – the Hawkeyes tied the game, 41-41, after a layup with 2:49 left. Ali Berg drained a big three to give the Maroon and Gold a 44-43 edge, but five-straight points from Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin's triple helped Iowa lead it, 51-46, as the teams headed to the locker room. Loyola Chicago was 10-15 (67-percent) from the field and 5-8 (63-percent) from deep to finish the second quarter – its best output of the evening.

Coming out of the break, Sitori Tanin sunk a jumper in the paint and Fisher quieted the crowd with a 3-pointer to make the score 53-52, Iowa. But from there, Iowa turned up its intensity on the offensive side of the court. The Hawkeyes outscored Loyola, 28-15, in the third frame and 19-8 in the fourth. The home team finished the game on a 13-0 run, sealing their 98-69 win.

Notes

• The crowd of 14,998 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena was the largest Loyola Chicago has ever played in front of.
• Loyola Chicago's 69 points scored against the Hawkeyes is the fifth-most of Iowa's 13 foes thus far.
• Emma Nolan, coming off the bench, led the Ramblers with a season-high 15 points. She was 5-10 from the floor, 3-7 from 3-point range, and 2-4 at the line. She added a steal and two boards to go with her stellar night.
• Audrey Deptula secured a career-high six points. She was a perfect 2-2 from the field and 2-2 from deep.
• Galanopoulos was close behind with 14 points. She added a team-high four assists plus a rebound.
• Fisher scored 12 points and added four boards.
• Sophia Nolan was one point shy of her season-high with nine points off the bench. She broke her season-high with five rebounds and tied her career-high of three assists.
• The Ramblers ended the evening shooting 41-percent (26-64) from the field, 37-percent (13-35) from three and 57-percent (4-7) from the charity stripe.

Up Next
The Ramblers will enjoy Christmas break before Atlantic 10 actions begins on Saturday, Dec. 30, when Loyola faces St. Bonaventure on the road. Tip-off is set for noon CT on ESPN+.