Women’s Basketball Burned by Bricks in UIC Loss

Loyola women’s basketball headed south to face inner city rival University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC), where they dropped their fifth straight. The Ramblers mounted a late comeback from first-year guard and forward Alex-Anne Bessette, scoring 22 points. Third-year forward Julia Coleman ignited the Flames with 16 points and 10 rebounds while shooting perfect from the field.

Head coach Allison Guth spoke on the tough love she gave Bessette after her rough first half, wanting more aggression from her in the last 20 minutes.

“I don’t think [Bessette] was playing as hard or to her strengths as she could,” Guth said. “She came into halftime with six points with the offensive capability to be a 40-point kid. I challenged her at halftime. She came out, she shows what she’s capable of doing.”

UIC second-year center Magdalena Winter scored the first points of the game on a turnaround move in the post. After the Ramblers couldn’t secure a defensive rebound, fourth-year guard Jessica Carrothers made them pay with a jumper. Coleman expanded the UIC lead on a block which she took coast-to-coast for an easy score, forcing a Loyola timeout down 6-0. 

Second-year forward Brooklyn Vaughn finally got Loyola on the board, making a contested layup where she was fouled and couldn’t finish the three-point play at the line. Coleman matched on the next possession with a layup. 

A missed 3-pointer by UIC was called out on a tip by Loyola. Guth disagreed and successfully challenged the call, which gave the Ramblers momentum as Vaughn hit a floater in the post and was fouled, failing to finish the and-one again. 

Carrothers and Coleman crushed the momentum with a block and an easy lay to make it 10-4. Bessette brought it closer with an aggressive layup before missing threes on back-to-back possessions as UIC tacked on another lay-in from first-year forward Marissa Green. 

First-year forward Nevaeh Dickman hit a jumper from the post to make it 12-8. Second-year Flames guard Tutu Clayton responded with two at the line, and Vaughn added another post move to make it 14-10. 

UIC graduate guard Sara Zabrecky hit a deep three. Bessette tried to match it with a three of her own at the buzzer, but it bricked off the backboard to end the first with Loyola trailing 17-10.

Second-year guard Samantha Serrano opened the second quarter with a three for UIC. Second-year guard Kendall Hendrix was fouled and missed both at the line, but the miss was nabbed by second-year guard Alexa Kinas, who hit the baseline jumper. Vaughn drew another foul on a post shot, making the second, ending Loyola’s 0-5 streak at the line. 

A missed layup by Kinas was punished with an easy make for Serranno. Zabrecky hit another deep 3-pointer as Loyola’s offense continued to falter after being held scoreless for nearly four minutes. Clayton cooked up a corner three, and a Bessette turnover resulted in UIC’s biggest lead of the game at 30-13 with a Carrothers jumper. 

Bessette finally broke through with a jumper which was met by a free throw from Serrano and a step-back jumper from Carrothers. Bessette made another layup, and Kinas hit the final shot of the half to cut Loyola’s deficit to 33-19.

Bessette opened the second half by fouling Winter, who missed both attempts at the line. Vaughn grabbed an offensive board on a Hendrix miss and finished before being countered by a Zabrecky corner three. Loyola responded with a Bessette layup followed by a Hendrix lay-in. A tip-in from Winter made it 38-25 before Kinas hit a jumper from the top of the charity stripe. 

Clayton combated with a fading floater, and Hendrix fouled Winter on the next possession, where she sank both as the Flames led 42-27. Vaughn found her way to the stripe as well, making one. A deadball foul on Zabrecky gave Loyola the inbound, where Vaughn hit a turnaround jump shot. Winter met it immediately, being fouled on a layup and missing the and-one.

Guth was left in disarray after an offensive foul was called on a Vaughn drive, as UIC capitalized with a Coleman layup. UIC graduate guard and forward Crystal Ortiz made a corner three as the shot clock expired, and the Loyola bench pleaded their case to the referees. The Ramblers failed to get back on defense after a Vaughn miss, leaving Coleman wide open with a free lane to the basket. 

Bessette grabbed an offensive rebound and finished with a post move, and a foul on Vaughn put UIC in the bonus as Coleman sank both. Bessette continues to lead Loyola with a spinning layup to make it 53-34. Dickman fouled Coleman, where she made both, and first-year guard Daniella Matus missed a half-court heave at the buzzer as Loyola faced the final frame down 55-34.

Over the break, replay review overturned the previous three at the shot clock horn by Ortiz was taken back to make it 52-34.

A poor pass by Vaughn led to a fast break make for Coleman as Hendrix met with one of her own. Fourth-year guard Kira Chivers knocked down a corner three for Loyola for their first make of the day in 14 tries. 

Carrothers connected on a jumper, and Matus met with a driving layup to make it 56-41. Vaughn was fouled on the next possession, where she made one. Turnovers on both sides held each team scoreless for nearly two minutes before the Flames broke Loyola’s full-court press for a wide-open layup. 

Hendrix mustered momentum for Loyola as she snagged a Matus miss and finished at the rim as Guth called a timeout with just under five minutes left, down 58-44. Hendrix jumped the inbound pass and found Bessette inside for a quick make. Zabrecky expanded the Flame’s lead back up to 15 with a three. 

Bessette followed with two more layups — being fouled on the second — where she missed the shot, and Hendrix missed both second-chance layups after grabbing the rebound. An intentional foul on Chivers with just over a minute left helped UIC tack on one, and a Matus missed 3-pointer led to another foul and another two points from UIC. 

Loyola finally found a three as Bessette swished one from the elbow for their second three of the game as they cut it to 64-53 with 50 seconds left. Matus fouled on the inbound, and Carrothers sank both.

Bricks by Bessette and Vaughn were saved by a foul sending Bessette to the line, where she made the first and Hendrix grabbed the second, missing the putback. Vaughn fouled out as she sent Clayton to the line, who converted on both. A Bessette turnover ended the contest as the Flames ran out the clock, taking the Chicago rivalry 68-54.

Guth spoke post-game about Loyola’s poor shooting, which saw them go 2-20 from three and 4-13 at the free throw line, costing them the game.

“I gotta tell you, we make threes in practice, so this is shocking to me,” Guth said. “We’ve got to get back to rhythm threes, and you gotta make threes, and you gotta get to the free throw line and convert there if you’re going to win games. You can’t go 30% from there.”

Loyola faces DePaul University next in the Red Line Rivalry on the road Nov. 26 at 11 a.m. Streaming will be available on ESPN+.