After two weeks on the road, Loyola women’s basketball returned to Reitz Arena Wednesday, Feb.3 t to host Patriot League foe Lehigh. The Hounds fell to the Mountain Hawks 76-68, Lehigh just beat archrival Lafayette 55-51 days before. Earlier in the season, Lehigh defeated Loyola 66-48 at home in the Lehigh Valley, so Wednesday’s contest completed a sweep for the Mountain Hawks.
The Hounds came out playing clean and poised, two qualities that senior Colleen Marshall exuberates, making her a natural leader on the court. However, Loyola couldn’t keep up with Lehigh’s aggressiveness and once they fell behind, the nine-point gap remained stagnant for the majority of the game. Lehigh simply took better advantage of their three-point opportunities while Loyola did not capitalize on their chances.
By halftime, the score reached 40-31 with Lehigh in the lead. Although Loyola’s defense was tight, their offense was not precise enough to consistently score the baskets needed to effectively close the score gap.
What would have been the key quarter for the Hounds to retaliate was completely wasted when a fixable nine-point difference changed to being behind by 16, which seemed fatal to their chances of winning the game. Loyola’s fourth quarter performance made up for their lack of momentum in the third, but it wasn’t enough to pull through and trump the Mountain Hawks.
With less than two minutes left in the game, Loyola attempted to salvage the little time they had left to come back, with Jeneh Perry banking a two-pointer to decrease the gap to a mere five points. Lehigh sophomore Bernadette Devaney increased the score to 72-65 after shooting two free throws. Loyola’s Marshall made her last attempts to save the Hounds by scoring a two-pointer with 30 seconds left in regulation to again bring the score gap to five points. In the final moments, desperation settled in for Loyola as they wasted away personal fouls, allowing Lehigh to win with a final score of 76-68.
A win for Loyola would have been clutch, specifically for gaining ground in the Patriot League. Prior to the game, both teams stood at 6-3 in the Patriot League, despite Lehigh standing at 13-7 overall while Loyola was at 9-11. The loss was bittersweet for the Hounds, considering how close they got towards the conclusion of the contest.
Coming off of Wednesday night’s loss, Loyola fell to Army 52-44 at home on Saturday afternoon. The Hounds will travel to nearby Annapolis to face off against Navy on Wednesday, Feb. 10 then return to Reitz on Feb. 17 to welcome Bucknell.
