The women’s basketball team gave up a late run, falling to Lehigh 51-42 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday. With the game tied at 38 apiece midway through the fourth quarter, the Mountain Hawks went on a 10-0 run to pull away and seal the win. Loyola fell to 2-18 and 1-8 with the loss.

Isabella Therien ’21 led all Loyola scorers with 21 points–half of the team’s total–while Stephanie Karcz ’20 recorded seven points and a game-high eight rebounds. Lehigh’s Hailey Pascoe also scored half of her team’s points with 26.

A defensive standoff in the first quarter resulted in a 5-2 Lehigh lead after 10 minutes of play. Loyola’s two points are the fewest in a quarter in team history. Fifth-year senior Bri Betz-White (5 points) broke the Hounds’ cold streak with a 3-point field goal with 8:42 left in the second quarter, making the score 8-5.

Pascoe led the way for Lehigh, scoring 13 of their 20 points in the first half. She and Therien traded baskets for several minutes in the second quarter, while Delaney Connolly ’21 and Molly Taylor ’20 added a basket each for the Hounds. After a buzzer-beating layup from first-year Taleah Dixon Lehigh went into the locker room holding onto a 20-18 lead.

The second half began with a 9-2 Lehigh run, but the Hounds responded with a 3-point field goal from Alexis Gray ’20 and five straight points from Karcz. Baskets from Karcz and Therien tied the game for the first time at 38 early in the fourth quarter, but a devastating Lehigh run put the game out of reach, at 51-40 with 1:21 to play. A layup from Gray in the closing seconds made the final score 51-42.

Loyola bounced back from their loss with a dominating home victory over Army on Saturday, 70-51. Four Greyhounds hit double figures in the game, led by Hannah Niles ’20, with 17 on 10-17 shooting. Karcz had 16, Dixon had 15, and Connolly scored 11 to go with nine rebounds. Army’s Madison Hovren had a monster double-double with 17 points and 17 rebounds, but her efforts were not nearly enough.

The Hounds started the game red-hot, going on a 19-3 run in the midst of a dominating 21-8 lead after the first quarter. The 3-ball became a lethal weapon for the Hounds as they hit four in the quarter. This opened up the paint for Loyola, leaving Karcz with favorable matchups and easy baskets in the post. Dixon hit two 3’s to close out the half, expanding the lead to 39-20.

Loyola turned to Karcz in the paint for their points early in the second half, and she did not disappoint. She scored eight of Loyola’s first 11 points, and two 3-pointers from Niles put them up by 25. That lead was cut to 21 at the end of the quarter, leaving the score at 58-37.

Niles scored the first six points of the fourth quarter for Loyola. Two free throws and a layup from Gray all but sealed the win, putting the Hounds up 70-51 late. Loyola enters their bye week on a high note. Their next game is at Reitz Arena against Holy Cross on Saturday, Feb. 9.

Image courtesy of Craig Chase