Loyola women?s basketball coach Joe Logan was worried about where his team?s points would come from Friday night. He was right to be concerned. Hosting Siena, the Greyhounds were without their second and third-leading scorers, and Logan?s squad struggled to find an offensive rhythm, failing to the Saints, 67-57, at Reitz Arena.
Forward Meghan Wood (9.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg) missed the game with an injury to her right knee and guard Tynisha Davis (7.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg) sat out with the flu. Without the duo, the Greyhounds shot a meager 35.6 percent from the floor and had had just seven assists against 13 turnovers.
“We need a little bit more from everybody?” Logan said. “It?s no one person. We aren?t going to ask anybody to score 30 points. Every game is a learning experience and tonight we have a lot to learn from.”
Loyola (8-8, 3-3 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) came out hot and broke Siena?s press, taking a 29-19 lead with 4:39 left in the first half following a layup by Erica DiClemente. But the Saints (6-10, 2-4) scored 12 of the final 14 points of the opening half and trailed just 33-31 at intermission.
Siena forward Laura Menty was a force in the paint for the Saints, scoring 15 of her game-high 28 points in the first half.
“We have to stay together as a team,” DiClemente, said. “We are capable of beating anyone.”
The Saints took a 39-36 lead four and a half minutes into the second half on Menty?s second basket of the period. A three-pointer by Loyola guard Siobhon Prior, her team?s first field goal of the half, tied the game at 39-39 at the 12:30 mark, and 45 seconds later, DiClemente gave her team the lead with a 15-foot jumper.
The teams traded baskets over the next eight minutes, but Siena eventually put together a 10-5 run to take control of the game, establishing a 55-49 lead with 4:24 remaining after a jumper by Shondaya Burrell.
The Greyhounds pulled to within 59-55 after a layup by Vika Sholokhova with 2:25 left, but would get no closer.
DiClemente scored 12 points for the Greyhounds, Prior 10 and Sholokhova had 17 along with a career-high 13 rebounds.
“Losing at home is the worst,” Prior said. “We shouldn?t lose a conference game here, we are too good for that. We will turn it around.”
