Loyola Women’s Basketball Overcomes Late Northwestern Surge

The Loyola women’s basketball team squeezed out a tight 73-68 win over Northwestern University Nov. 29 in a short trip north to Evanston’s Welsh-Ryan Arena, bringing their record on the season to 3-4.

Graduate guard Sam Galanopoulos led scoring with 20 points on 50% shooting followed closely by fellow graduate guard Alyssa Fisher, who scored 19 shooting 60% from the field with seven free throws. Third-year guard Hailey Weaver led the scoring for Northwestern with 20 points.

Fourth-year forward Sitori Tanin grabbed the tip-off for the Ramblers, who scored first with a layup from graduate forward Ali Berg. Northwestern got its first two points on the following possession from third-year forward Caileigh Walsh before Loyola scored six straight off layups by second-year guard Kira Chivers, Berg and Tanin.

Loyola improved its lead to 11-4 as Galanopoulos drained a wide-open shot from beyond the arc. Just before an official timeout, both teams would take a trip to the free throw line, with Northwestern coming away with two points and the Ramblers only scoring one.

Galanopoulos led a nine-point run for the Ramblers coming out of the official timeout scoring seven points — two free throws, a 3-pointer and a layup — while graduate guard Emma Nolan added on with a jump shot. 

Down 15, the Wildcats tried to claw their way back. After first-year guard Casey Harter made a jump shot with a minute and a half left, Loyola missed back-to-back three-point attempts. Fourth-year Wildcat forward Paige Mott took a foul from Chivers and converted both free throws, ending the first quarter 21-10.

Northwestern’s second-year guard Caroline Lau started the second quarter with a made free throw and continued with some heavy back-and-forth between the teams.

A layup from Galanopoulos was met with a jumper from graduate guard Maggie Pina. Two straight scores on a layup from Galanopoulos and a corner three from first-year guard Audrey Deptula were negated by consecutive three-pointers from the Wildcats, bringing the difference between the teams to nine.

Graduate forward Sophia Nolan added a three before the five-minute mark. Fourth-year forward Aaliyah Moore converted a layup, but Northwestern closed the gap again as third-year guard Melannie Daley scored four in response. 

After Loyola missed opportunities in an extended offensive possession, Harter made a quick pull up jumper for two points. Berg closed out the half 38-25, grabbing an offensive rebound off her own miss and laid it in through heavy contact.

Walsh started the second half with a layup. Harter added a three-pointer a minute later bringing Northwestern within eight. Fisher scored the next four consecutive points — two shots at the line and a layup — before both teams traded four points each with Tanin and fourth-year forward Thoranna Kika Hodge-Carr muscling into the paint for layups.

The Northwestern offense caught fire after a Galanopoulos layup, going on a 13-point run to bring them within 10 of the Ramblers.

Head coach Allison Guth said the changes Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown made at halftime were an obvious factor to the Wildcat run.

“I knew the minute he came out in the third, the adjustments he was going to make when they went for the overload to the post,” Guth said. “I thought it was brilliant.”

Guth also said the run was due to stagnant movement on offense by Loyola.

The Ramblers gave themselves breathing room in the final minute of the third quarter after a successful trip to the charity stripe by Sophia Nolan and a steal by Galanopoulous finished by Fisher gave them a narrow lead 52-47.

Both teams were unsuccessful in their initial possessions to start the fourth quarter until Hodge-Carr made a tight layup in the paint. Mott responded by driving into the paint and earned an and-one, which she converted. Harter quickly added another two points, but Fisher made a jump shot to keep the Wildcats down 56-52.

Weaver renewed the Wildcats efforts after drawing and converting on an and-one following a turn-around jumper over Hodge-Carr. Fisher was fouled two possessions later and Sophia Nolan pump-faked her way to an open layup.

Just under six minutes in, two free throws from Tanin were negated by another jumper from Weaver and Loyola scored their final three from Galanopoulos to bring the score to 64-57.

Northwestern’s next three points came from only free throws, and Fisher sank another two-point jumpshot. Four straight points by the Wildcats brought them within two but with just over a minute remaining, Fisher took contact on a layup and got an and-one call, giving her a quick three points.

Fisher gave the Ramblers a six point lead with a free throw with 25 seconds left. Northwestern quickly moved the ball down court, where Weaver took contact from Berg on a three, earning the and-one and putting the Wildcats back within two.

Fisher was fouled and converted both, giving the Ramblers a four point lead with 10 seconds remaining. Walsh missed a critical layup that was rebounded by Emma Nolan, and Galanopoulos was fouled and iced the game with a final free throw.

The Ramblers shot 45.6% on 57 attempts and went 6-16 from beyond the arc. The Ramblers significantly cut back on three-point attempts in the second half, with only two attempts compared to the first half’s 14.

Outside of scoring, Loyola dominated the rebounding department 34-25 but registered three less assists than the Wildcats with 13. The defensive unit also found success by grabbing 10 steals, accounting for most of Loyola’s 24 points off forced turnovers.

Galanopoulos said the defensive effort indicated the team’s game plan in limiting the effectiveness of Northwestern’s Lau, Walsh and Weaver trio.

“Our goal was just to make every shot tough,” Galanopoulos said. “Contest their vision as best we could on their shots and just try to at least be as tight as we could — make somebody else win the ball.”

Loyola’s next game will be in Gentile Arena against University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Dec. 9. The matchup is set for a 2 p.m. start with broadcast availability on ESPN+.

Featured image by Holden Green | The Phoenix