CHICAGO – Powered by Emma Nolan's career-high 18 points, the Loyola University Chicago women's basketball team beat the co-defending 2022-23 Atlantic 10 regular season champions, Rhode Island, 61-56, Wednesday night at Gentile Arena. Leading wire-to-wire, the Ramblers' victory snapped URI's five-game win streak.

"A big win for the Ramblers tonight, very proud of our ability to get it done with some adversity," said head Loyola Chicago coach Allison Guth. "We held the lead all game which was fantastic. I thought the first half set the tone with our attack and aggressive mentality,"

How it Happened
Loyola Chicago (8-7, 2-2 A10) used a 6-0 run to start the game with momentum in its favor and never looked back. Ali Berg drilled a pullup jumper to start the scoring before Sitori Tanin made her way to the cup off a URI (11-6, 3-1 A10) turnover. Tanin logged a pair at the charity stripe after snagging a defensive rebound to make the score 6-0, LUC.

After the first media timeout, Fisher's layup on the fast break was sandwiched between two 3-pointers from Emma Nolan, inflating the Ramblers' lead to 17-9. Fisher posted another trey before the first quarter's buzzer sounded, capping Loyola's 7-15 (47-percent) outing from the field.   

URI scored four quick points to open the second quarter, making the score 20-15, Loyola, but the Maroon and Gold never let the Rams come within less three points through the remainder of the frame. Loyola stretched its advantage to as many as 10 points after Emma Nolan, who tied her career-high (16 points) in the first half alone, sunk a three to make the score 27-17. Loyola Chicago then scored seven-straight points to end the frame as the squad owned a 36-28 lead at halftime.

Loyola Chicago owned its largest lead of the night after Berg's pair at the free throw line made the score 47-34, but Rhody began to find its footing late in the quarter. The Rams embarked on a 9-2 run to shrink Loyola's edge to 49-44 with 2:58 left in the third. Before the quarter expired, Berg added to her total with two points at the line as Loyola held a 51-44 lead before the final 10 minutes.   

Sam Galanopoulos sunk a jump shot with 2:09 left in the game, giving Loyola a 59-50 lead. In desperation, the Rams began full court pressing the Ramblers in crunch time. The risk paid off as the Marron and Gold committed four turnovers in the final two minutes, leading to Rhode Island making it a one possession game (59-56). However, Kira Chivers made two crucial free throws with 10 seconds left, sealing the Ramblers' 61-56 win.

Notes

• The Ramblers shot the deep ball at a 47-percent (7-15) clip – its second-highest percentage of the season.
• The team sunk 14 of its 15 attempts at the free throw line to mark a new season-best (93-percent)
• The Ramblers' bench produced 27 points, its third-most of the year, while Rhody's logged just one point.
• Coming off the bench, Emma Nolan's 18 points marked a new career-high. She was 5-7 from the field and a perfect 4-4 from long range.
• Berg totaled 10 points and brought down seven rebounds, etching a new season-best.
• Tanin added 10 points as well while her three assists and three steals were new season-highs.
• Hodge-Carr, who also had seven boards, was just one shy of a season-high.

Up Next
LUC will continue its trek to March this Saturday (Jan. 13) as the team plays host to VCU (14-2, 3-1 A10). Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. CT on Senior Citizen Day at Gentile Arena. The game will broadcast live to ESPN+.