Women’s Basketball falls to Cleveland State

The Loyola women’s basketball team fell short 74-66 against the Cleveland State University Vikings in Gentile Arena Nov. 12.

The Ramblers’ leading scorer was graduate guard Alyssa Fisher who finished with 20 points. Scoring 11 points apiece were fourth-year forward Sitori Tanin and second-year guard Kira Chivers, who made her season debut.

“Her confidence tonight was great to see,” Tanin said of her teammate. “She’s such a quick player, and that’s what we need out there to just get inside, especially against the zone, punching those gaps and kicking it to shooters.”

Tanin grabbed the opening tip-off for the Ramblers, who opened scoring with a three-point shot from Fisher. The Viking’s fifth-year guard Carmen Villalobos responded with a three point shot a minute later to even the scoring. CSU added on the next four points via solid guard play with a jump shot from fourth-year Destiny Leo and a layup from third-year Colbi Maples.

After drawing a shooting foul, Tanin converted on two free throws and brought the Ramblers within two. Cleveland State responded effectively as Maples made two layups on back-to-back possessions before a media timeout signaled a pause to the action with a score of 11-5.

After both sides failed to score in their next two respective possessions, graduate forward Emma Nolan ended the stalemate with a corner three. CSU’s graduate forward Brooklyn Fort-Davis responded with a layup, but Loyola followed with five straight via a three from graduate forward Ali Berg and a layup from sophomore guard Mallory Ramage to tie the game at 13.

The game underwent a delay after Villalobos went down following a collision with Ramage, but walked it off and returned later in the game. In the final two minutes, scoring came only from trips to the line — the Vikings scoring four and Emma Nolan converting just one of two — as the first quarter ended with a score of 17-14. 

Scoring in the second quarter started off half-a-minute in when Cleveland State’s fourth-year guard Sara Guerrerio grabbed an offensive board and made a shot clock-beating layup through contact. After she converted the and-one, Loyola marched right down the court with a layup from Tanin. 

In the following two minutes, CSU scored another three points and Loyola’s graduate forward Thoranna Hodge-Carr converted a layup, before a three-pointer from first-year forward Audrey Deptula tightened the gap to 23-21.

Leo continued to find success at the line, easily converting three free throws after being fouled by Chivers outside the arc. The teams subsequently traded three-pointers before the media timeout, bringing the score to 29-24.

After three scoreless minutes, the sides traded layups before CSU’s Mickayla Perdue sank a three-pointer from outside the arc. Loyola’s final three points in the first came off single free throws with Tanin sinking one and graduate forward Sophia Nolan sinking two on two separate trips. Loyola was just 5 points away from tying up as the half ended 34-29.

Cleveland State came out scorching to start the second half, going on a 14 point run over the course of four-and-a-half minutes. Leo sparked the Viking’s offense during the run with eight points off of a three-pointer, layup and three free throws to make the score 48-29.

Head coach Allison Guth said the run exposed fractures in Loyola’s game plan and was vital for Cleveland State.

“We had some deficiencies in the third quarter,” Guth said. “That run was really crucial in Cleveland State’s success on the win column.”

Loyola eventually stopped the run after Chivers knocked down a three and added another a minute later from Fisher. Cleveland State earned two consecutive trips to the line and hit three of four attempts, but Emma Nolan scored four in response on a layup and trip to the charity stripe.

Fisher added another three-pointer to the scoresheet and Leo added another three points with a physical and-one jumper. Chivers scored another three-pointer to bring the Ramblers back within nine, but Cleveland State’s Fort-Davis was the last to score with a layup and lone free throw as the third quarter drew to a close at 57-45.

The fourth quarter started with a layup from Tanin who scored again with two free throws after a game-wide scoring drought of three minutes. Leo dropped in another layup and free throw after taking a hard foul, but Tanin returned to the charity stripe and sank both.

Two free throws from Villalobos were answered by an and-one layup from Chivers and the teams traded two more free throws in the following two minutes to bring the score to 64-56. Leo stepped up to the free throw line and remained perfect as Tanin fouled out with her fifth foul of the night.

With the scoreboard reading 66-56 with two minutes and forty-five seconds left on the clock,  Fisher sparked an 8-2 Loyola run all on her own, dropping two three-pointers and drawing a trip to the line.

Tanin said Fisher’s fourth quarter run signified a lot about the team despite the loss.

“We saw a lot of players step up, do their role,” Tanin said. “We really wanna win, not only for coach and everyone around here, but just for each other, for our sisterhood.”

Leo would ice the game, being the lone scorer for the Vikings during a 6-2 run in the final minute. Her final points came from the line, and she finished with 33 points on a perfect 18 makes in 18 free throw attempts. 

The Ramblers shot 33.9% on 56 attempts and converted 11 of their 27 shots from behind the arc. Cleveland State outhustled Loyola in the rebound category 38-27, but Loyola showed a significant improvement in ball movement with 14 assists and only 13 turnovers, compared to CSU’s 9 assist to 19 turnovers ratio.

Guth noted the offensive successes, but said they need to be better in three point shooting moving forward.

“Our team liked what we were doing in our zone offense,” Guth said. “In patience and movement of the basketball. We need to get the three ball off a little quicker and make decisions at a faster rate. We shifted the zone, but we’re a little bit time sensitive in that release that we can be a little bit better in.”

Loyola’s next game will be in Gentile Arena against Eastern Illinois University Dec. 2. The matchup is set for a 12 p.m. start with broadcast availability on ESPN+.

Featured Image by Holden Green | The Loyola Phoenix