While most Loyola students enjoyed some time at home or on vacation, Loyola’s winter sports teams kept a busy schedule over winter break. The women’s basketball team went 2-4 in six games, while the men’s team went 3-4 in seven contests. Both teams struggled with injuries. The swimming and diving teams made their annual trip to Puerto Rico, competing in the Copa Coqui Invitational on Jan. 5. 

Both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished second in the team standings, among schools from both Puerto Rico and the United States. 

Devin Cronin ‘20 finished first out of 51 swimmers in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:17.68, while Emma Schouten ‘21 (3^rd), Alden Coyne ‘20 (8^th) and Abby Andrews ’22 (9^th) all cracked the top 10. Jay Venit ‘21 led three Greyhounds in the top three in the 100 breaststroke, followed by David Sears ‘22 and Max Verheyen ’23.

Anne Hayburn ’20 and Elizabeth Walsh ’22 had top-10 finishes in three of their four races, and Verheyen contributed two top-10 finishes. 

The swimming and diving teams will return to Mangione Pool on Monday, Jan. 20 to face La Salle University in a 12 p.m. meeting. 

The women’s basketball team started out with wins over Monmouth University (64-48) and Dartmouth University (72-56) on Dec. 20 and 31. The Greyhound defense was dominant in both wins, forcing a total of 43 turnovers. Stephanie Karcz ’20 nearly posted a quadruple-double in the win over Dartmouth, scoring 13 points, 10 steals, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. She continues to lead the nation with 5.8 steals per game.

The New Year did not start well following the two wins, however, as they dropped four Patriot League games in a row. On Jan. 2 they fell to Holy Cross 64-56, as a late comeback led by Emily McAteer ‘23 (18 points) came up short. 

The Hounds then lost to Lehigh 55-53 on Jan. 5, as Lehigh’s Cameryn Benz sunk a jump shot with 1.5 seconds left. Loyola only played eight healthy players to Lehigh’s 14. Laryn Edwards ’22 played all 40 minutes. The Hounds then suffered another narrow defeat on Jan. 8, as Colgate pulled out 76-74 win. Edwards led the Loyola offense once again with a career-high 19 points, but the Hounds failed to score in the final two minutes. 

Loyola endured a third close defeat on Jan. 11, dropping their fourth game in a row to Lafayette 55-52 in overtime. McAteer recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Karcz also chipped in a double-double, but the Greyhounds only scored one basket in the extra period. 

They then started the spring semester with games against Boston University on Wednesday and Army West Point on Saturday. After coming up short against BU in a 44-42 defensive struggle, the Greyhounds secured their first conference victory of the season against Army on Alumnae Day. Karcz had a triple-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 steals. Her 12 steals set the record for the most steals in a Patriot League game.

The women’s team will continue their conference schedule on Wednesday, when they travel to American University for a morning game starting at 11:30 a.m.

The men’s basketball team defeated Elizabethtown College 72-45 on Dec. 21 to start their winter break, setting a single-game team record with 53 rebounds. They never trailed in the contest. Then they defeated UMass Lowell on Dec. 27. Andrew Kostecka ’20 took over in the second half, putting up 19 points in the final 16 minutes. He finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds.

After the two victories, Loyola fell to Virginia Commonwealth University 85-51 on Dec. 29. Kostecka carried the Hounds’ offense, scoring 30 of the team’s 51 points. They bounced back with an 80-70 win against Holy Cross on Jan. 2 to start out conference play. Kostecka continued his hot streak, dropping a career-high 37 points and achieving the milestone of 1,500 career points. 

Missing two starters, Loyola limped into their next matchup against Lehigh University on Jan. 5, Golden Dike ’23 picked up some of the slack with his first collegiate double-double, scoring 10 points and 12 rebounds. The Hounds could not overcome their missing starters, as Lehigh squeezed out a 78-71 victory.

The Greyhounds dropped their next two conference games to Colgate University (92-70) on Jan. 8 and Lafayette University (75-72) on Jan. 11. In the game against Colgate, Isaiah Hart ’21 and KaVaughn Scott ‘20 both scored a season-high 17 points, but the Patriot League’s top team could not be stopped. Four Raiders scored 13-plus points on their way to a convincing victory. 

Lafayette then edged out the injury-plagued Hounds on Jan. 11, 75-72. Despite Kostecka and Cam Spencer ’23, the team’s two top scorers, sitting out due to injury, other Greyhounds stepped up to give the Leopards a fight. Hart dropped a season-high 21 points, Jaylin Andrews ’22 scored 12 points, and Garren Davis ’23 scored six points and six rebounds in his best minutes of the season.

Lastly, Loyola faced off against Boston University on Monday evening in a nationally televised game at Reitz Arena. Still recovering from injuries, the Greyhounds got off to a slow start and fell behind 42-17 in the first half. The second half was less lopsided, but Loyola could not recover and fell to the Terriers 85-53. Kostecka led the team with 13 points, while Dike (11), Kenneth Jones ’22 (10), and Davis (nine) all contributed solid scoring efforts. 

The men’s team has continued to slide, as they suffered  a defeat in their first game of the spring semester against Army West Point on Saturday. They held a double-digit lead with under six minutes remaining, but the Black Knights stormed back and hit a game-winning three with just 1.9 seconds left. 

The Hounds will look to snap their losing streak this Wednesday, when they host American University at Reitz Arena. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m.

Featured Image Courtesy of Loyola Athletics.