Ramblers Suffer Quick Exit in A10 Tournament

The Loyola women’s basketball team was the first to depart the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament in Henrico, VA., following a 65-44 loss to George Washington University. Poor shooting doomed the Ramblers, who shot just 28% from the field and 18% from three.

Head coach Allison Guth acknowledged the teams’ poor shooting and lackluster defense as key items to avoid in the long term.

“It’s a pretty devastated locker room, because you never want to leave the floor not giving your best performance,” Guth said. “We couldn’t throw the ball into the ocean. So that was a tough, tough way to go out, and we needed to find ways to get stops. We know there’s better basketball for us, and we want to honor the sisterhood by playing better in the future.”

Three Revolutionaries — graduate guard Makayla Andrews, second-year guard Kamari Sims and first-year guard Gabby Reynolds — recorded double-figures, while graduate guard Naelle Bernard was the lone Rambler to cross the threshold with 13 points.

Graduate forward Sitori Tanin won the opening tipoff for Loyola, who quickly moved down court and got on the board with a Bernard 3-pointer. Third-year guard Kira Chivers added a free throw after the Revolutionaries failed to convert on their opening possession.

Second-year forward Sara Lewis opened George Washington’s scoring after taking a foul mid-layup for a three-point play. Andrews hit a lone free throw to tie the game at four.

The Revolutionaries grabbed the lead just before a timeout, with graduate forward Paige Mott converting a layup and first-year guard Sara Lewis adding another for an 8-4 score.

Reynolds finished a turnaround layup to extend the lead to six before graduate forward Thoranna Kika Hodge-Carr grabbed an offensive board and hit a mid-range jumper.

Following a minute-and-a-half scoring drought, the Revolutionaries ended the first quarter on a 5-2 run, with Andrews converting a free throw and jumper alongside Reynolds, while third-year guard and forward Emma Theodorsson delivered two points for the Ramblers.

Up 15-8, George Washington continued the advance as Mott drove in a layup and third-year guard Filipa Calisto floated in a layup. Bernard hit two free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt to stop the skid down 20-10.

Over the next four and a half minutes — with the exception of a three from Bernard — neither side could produce a positive offensive possession. The Revolutionaries’ offense suffered from turnovers, while the Ramblers were unable to convert their shots.

Reynolds finally landed a three just before the two-minute mark to kick start both sides trading ten points each. Mott added a layup, while first-year guard Alexa Kinas finished a layup and second-year guard Audrey Deptula drained a corner 3-pointer. George Washington exited the first half with a 27-18 lead after Andrews floated in a jumper with five seconds left.

Loyola scored the first points of the second half after a Bernard block led to Theodorsson hitting a two-point shot from the free-throw line. Andrews responded with five straight — a jumpshot and a three — before Chivers drove in for a layup and earned an and-one shot in the process for three points.

Hodge-Carr scored both before and after a media timeout, as Andrews and Deptula traded successful trips at the line. Although just six points behind, the Ramblers began to crumble.

While Loyola ended its final four possessions of the third quarter with misses or turnovers, the Revolutionaries were more successful, with Mott hooking in a shot and Reynolds following right after with a layup. The quarter ended 41-28 as a 3-pointer from Sims took a high bounce before dropping back in.

A brief break in play didn’t slow down Sims, who continued her hot hand with a layup and an and-one jumper to extend George Washington’s lead to 18.

A retaliatory layup by Hodge-Carr left the Revolutionaries unaffected for another quick run, as Calisto dropped in two consecutive layups and first-year forward Miriam Diala got in on the action with her own layup.

First-year guard Kendall Hendrix made two at the line for the Ramblers, as Sims hit an immediate three on the next possession. First-year forward Brooklyn Vaughn and Diala exchanged buckets while a three from Bernard and the final layup of Sim’s fourth-quarter performance made it 59-37.

A 3-pointer by second-year guard Rosalie Mercille brought the deficit to 19 points but was immediately negated by a Reynolds three. With just over a minute left in the game, fourth-year guard Jess Finney connected on a turnaround jumper.

George Washington’s final points of the night came from a three by first-year forward Kyraha Parnell, but Loyola was the last to score. Bernard drove into the paint for a layup with 22 seconds left, ending the game with the Revolutionaries celebrating their 65-44 win.

With the early departure from the Atlantic 10 Championship, the team says farewell to five departing upperclassmen — Tanin, Hodge-Carr, Finney, Bernard and fourth-year forward Destiny Jackson — before turning their attention to the offseason. 

Chivers, completing her third season with the Ramblers, stressed the importance of taking the culture of this year’s graduates into the next season.

“We’ve gained so much knowledge, and just their passion for the game is really inspiring,” Chivers said. “So I think just taking that and running with it in the future, and just creating that positive culture and that atmosphere that they had, and just bringing that along in the following years.”

Guth was grateful for the opportunity to show out at Virginia and complimented George Washington’s play before commending her team.

“It was a lot more fun being here later in it last year, but we just came out of a locker room where I couldn’t be more proud of the women we coach and the legacy that our seniors are leaving us,” Guth said.