When the Loyola women?s basketball team finds itself trailing at the half, it has its opponents just where it wants them. Rallying from a halftime deficit for the second straight game, the Greyhounds downed Villanova 49-47 in front of 323 fans Sunday afternoon at Reitz Arena.
“Apparently we are a second half team,” Loyola forward Meghan Wood said with a laugh. “And that?s great because that has never been the case in my four years.”
Friday night, Loyola trailed 33-23 at the half before rallying for a 72-62 win.
Loyola (2-0) traded baskets with Villanova (1-1) for the first 8 minutes of the game, taking a 9-8 lead. But the Wildcats put together a mini-run to take a 22-14 lead with just over five minutes left in the first half. However, the Greyhounds would trim the margin to just 26-20 heading into the intermission.
Greyhound Guard Erica DiClimente and Wood each had four points in the first half on 2-of-4 shooting, but the Greyhounds struggled to find the mark, shooting 33.3 percent from the floor and 1-of-8 from beyond the arc. The team finished shooting 34 percent from the floor and 2-of-12 from three, but Villanova only made 30 percent of their shots and 6-of-27 from beyond the arc.
“I credit our team?s defensive intensity,” Loyola coach Joe Logan said. “When you go down against Villanova, it?s very difficult to come back and take the lead.”
Loyola chipped away at the Villanova lead early in the second half, and finally went ahead, 34-33, with 11:41 remaining when Ashley Alexander hit the second of two free-throws. The teams traded the lead several times before Wildcat guard Sibohan O?Connor hit a three-pointer in the corner to give her team a 40-36 lead with 6:35 remaining.
Freshman guard Candice Walker gave the Greyhounds back the lead with 3:59 left when she hit a driving layup and was fouled on the play. The ensuing free throw put Loyola ahead 42-40.
But the Wildcats would answer by scoring the next 4 points before Meghan Wood knotted the score at 44-44 on a hook shot in the lane with 1:27 remaining. On their next possession, guard Tynisha Davis would give the Greyhounds the lead for good, 46-44, with 53 seconds left.
Walker and DiClimente combined to make 3-of-4 free throws in the final 35 seconds.
DiClimente finished with a team-high 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting.
Villanova guard Lisa Karcic, who had a game-high 16 points, made a three-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining.
“We just outworked them,” Wood said. “That?s how we won our first two games of the season. We had more heart.”
