NEW ORLEANS – The Loyola University New Orleans women’s basketball team finished the regular season on a good note Saturday, defeating Life University, 91-63, in The Den on Senior Day.
The Wolf Pack will head into postseason play 25-1 overall and they ended the season with a 17-1 Southern States Athletic Conference mark.
After already clinching the regular-season title weeks ago, the Pack will be the No. 1 seed in next week’s SSAC Championship. Loyola will play the winner of No. 8 Life and No. 9 Middle Georgia State on Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
After a first quarter that Life University won 21-16, the Wolf Pack turned things around in the second frame to take a 46-34 lead into the break. Jazmene McMillan scored Loyola’s first four points, but Life scored the next seven to jump ahead 7-5 four minutes into the contest. Sydni Tangle hit the first of her two first-half 3-pointers moments later, and Taylor Thomas followed that up with a 3-pointer to make it a 12-9 Wolf Pack lead. Holding a 14-11 lead, however, Life ended the last 90 seconds of the opening frame with a 10-2 run.
Tay Cannon pulled Loyola to within two points with an old-fashioned 3-point play to start the second, 21-19, then she tied the game up a minute later, 24-24. Sandra Cannay and Cannon sparked a quick 11-3 run that took less than three minutes and gave Loyola a 35-29 lead. Tangle hit her second 3 of the half during that run, too, then four free throws by McMillan late in the half put the Pack ahead 10, 41-31. Kennedy Hansberry capped off the half with a 3-pointer in the final 10 seconds as well.
The Wolf Pack kept up the pressure with another dominating quarter in the third. After somewhat of a slow start for Loyola, with only two points in the first three minutes, scores by Thomas and Cannon got things going, 52-37. Hansberry and Tangle each hit 3s, 58-41, and Tera Snell made back-to-back shots to extend the lead to more than 20, 64-43, with two minutes left. Tangle hit another 3-pointer down the stretch before Hansberry, again, put an exclamation point on the quarter with a made shot on the offensive end of the floor and a block on Life’s final shot attempt.
Leading 73-45 with 10 minutes to go, the Running Eagles were never a threat in the fourth quarter. MG Lymon and Morgan Hervey both got their first points of the quarter and the Wolf Pack ran away with the win.
Pack Facts
- Sandra Cannady had yet another career performance, setting a new career high of 20 rebounds. It was also her 17th double-double of the season, as she posted a stat line of 16 points, 20 boards, two assists, a steal, and three blocks.
- Cannady’s 20 rebounds vaulted her into eighth on Loyola’s single-season rebounds list, as she’s grabbed 272 this season.
- Also with a double-double, for the second-straight game, Kennedy Hansberry put up 10 points and 10 rebounds. It was the fourth double-double of her career.
- Five different players scored in double figures, including Hansberry and Cannady. Sydni Tangle and Jazmene McMillan each had 14, and Tay Cannon had 13.
- Tangle made four three-pointers, a game high. She’s the team’s leader in three-point makes this year with 43.
- While Taylor Thomas didn’t get to double figures in scoring, she did succeed in stuffing the stat sheet with nine points, seven rebounds, six assists, a block, and a game-high three steals.
- Loyola outscored Life 21-2 in second-chance points, 32-13 in points off turnovers, and 40-13 in bench points. The Pack also out-rebounded the Running Eagles 46-28.
- The Wolf Pack assisted on 27 of their 32 baskets. That’s the third-highest assist total for the team this season.
- This is the seventh time in program history that the team has reached at least 25 wins.
{Courtesy: release from Loyola Athletics}