Rough Third Quarter Ruins Women’s Basketball in Home Opener

Loyola women’s basketball held its home opener Nov. 6 against the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. The Ramblers lost 55-46, with third-year guard Audrey Deptula as the lone double-digit scorer for Loyola with 10 points. Green Bay was led with 15 points and five steals from fourth-year guard Maddy Skorupski.

The Phoenix won the opening tip, where good interior defense from redshirt second-year forward Clara Djoko kept Green Bay off the board. Djoko drove downhill on the Ramblers’ first possession, where she drew a foul but missed both shots from the line.

The game featured intense defense from both sides, with four fouls before first-year guard and forward Alex-Anne Bessette scored the first basket on a post move in the paint. Green Bay finally got on the board four and a half minutes into the quarter on a fast break layup from second-year forward Gracie Grzesk.

Second-year guard Alexa Kinas opened up the lead, sniping a deep three to make it 5-2. Grzesk stole the ball on a bad pass by Kinas, leading to a fast break layup by Skorupski.

A two-minute break in scoring ended with redshirt fourth-year Phoenix guard Carley Duffney scoring on another fast break layup. Green Bay expanded their lead after a turnaround jumper from fourth-year guard Ellie Buzzelle to make it 8-5 — the final basket of the quarter.

Second-year forward Brooklyn Vaughn stole a Green Bay possession and found Deptula, who scored the first Loyola second quarter basket. Vaughn followed it up on the next possession, finishing a lay-in on a feed from fourth-year guard Kira Chivers to give the Ramblers back the lead. 

It didn’t last long as Green Bay first-year guard and forward Kristina Ouimette was left wide open in the corner, where she knocked down a 3-pointer. A back-and-forth battle ensued with Bessette finishing at the rim, which was met by a successful three-point play from Buzzelle. 

Kinas kept it close with a bucket on a baseline drive before second-year guard Kendall Hendrix stole the ball, leading to a corner three from Deptula to give Loyola a 16-14 lead and forcing a Green Bay timeout. 

Hendrix forced a stop on the next possession, grabbing a defensive rebound before knocking down a second-chance three from the top of the key. Green Bay ended the eight-point Rambler run on a Skorupski three-point play. The Phoenix then tied it at 19 on a driving layup from Buzzelle.

After Deptula was blocked on the next possession, Loyola grabbed an offensive rebound before Djoko swished a 3-pointer from the elbow. Skorupski matched it for Green Bay, making a floater in the paint to bring the score within one at 22-21. Green Bay took the lead on the next possession after a foul on Chivers led to redshirt second-year forward and center Meghan Schultz making both shots at the line.

Kinas gave the lead back to Loyola with a layup, but Djoko fouled Skorupski, leading to two more made free throws for the Phoenix. Hendrix’s three bricked at the buzzer as the Ramblers entered halftime, trailing 25-24.

Skorupski kicked off the second half scoring with a layup, and she scored again with a stepback jumper on the next possession. Schultz finished at the rim as Loyola missed a 3-pointer for the third straight possession. 

A Djoko steal led to a Bessette floater, finally breaking through three minutes into the half. Duffney made a layup and was fouled by Bessette, leading to another and-one and making it 34-26.

After Bessette bricked a 3-point shot off the rim, Buzzelle connected on a three of her own for the first double-digit lead of the game at 37-26. A tipped pass by Hendrix led to nothing for Loyola as third-year guard Rosalie Mercille lost the ball on the fast break, leading to a quick counter from Ouimette on a layup. 

The Phoenix continued to pour it on with a hook shot from fourth-year guard Kamy Peppler. After Hendrix nearly lost the ball on the ensuing possession, a jump ball was called as Loyola kept possession and called a timeout. First-year Daniella Matus was called for a travel as Green Bay drove down court, where Duffney made a post hook.

Matus made up for her mistake with a quick three before Loyola forced a turnover on the inbound. Chivers lost the ball on a drive to the basket, and Peppler was fouled by Hendrix on the following possession, leading to two more free throws for Green Bay. 

Matus threw up a fadeaway three at the buzzer, which missed as Loyola ended the quarter down 45-29, being outscored 20-5 in the third quarter.

Head coach Allison Guth spoke on Loyola’s poor third quarter and what went wrong.

“We get scored on in the first three minutes of the game every single possession Green Bay plays,” Guth said. “We didn’t get beat on their first elevator screen to the three, but then we get buried inside… the way that we had no answer on our end once they were scoring, that was a tougher run for us, and where we were at.”

Schultz opened the fourth quarter with a post move to make the Green Bay lead 18, their largest of the game. Chivers followed with a jumper, and Matus tacked on a corner three before Grzesk countered with a layup to hold the Phoenix lead at 49-34.

A two-and-a-half-minute cold stretch hit the court before Deptula drew a foul on a floater, where she made both. Another two-minute cold snap was ended by Skorupski making a layup before Vaughn grabbed her own miss and put it back in while drawing a foul and converting the and-one.

Bessette intercepted a pass before taking it cross-court and all the way to the rim for a layup to cut the lead to 10 with under two minutes remaining. Loyola played tough defense, forcing a shot clock violation with a minute left. Chivers drove the ball into the paint where she finished a contested layup, cutting the lead to 51-43 with 50 seconds to go.

Intentional fouls from Chivers, Deptula and two from Matus put Green Bay in the bonus and sent Buzzelle to the line, where she made both shots. Deptula came back with a fading deep three to cut it to seven with 22.8 seconds left.

Matus fouled Peppler intentionally, where she made both. Deptula was pressured on Loyola’s possession, where she threw the ball into Schultz’s hands before fouling her. Schultz missed both free throws for Green Bay’s first miss after starting the game with 13 straight makes at the line.

Matus chucked up an errant three which bounced off the backboard, ending the contest in favor of Green Bay at 55-46.

Guth spoke on the dysfunction she saw from the team offensively and improvements which need to be made if they want to be ready to face No.1 University of Connecticut next Wednesday.

“Before you need to know your opponent, you have to know thyself,” Guth said. “If we are this disoriented offensively from scoring it the way we think we can, and we’re about to play one of the best defenses in the country, we’ve got to go back to the lab and get those things figured out before we even talk about our game plan on how we’re going to try and disrupt the national champions.”

Loyola takes the court next on the road, where they’ll face their toughest test of the season in the defending national champion University of Connecticut, in Storrs, CT Nov. 12. The game will be televised nationally on truTV at 6:30 p.m..