Balls Don’t Drop In Women’s Basketball’s Favor in 62-50 New Year’s Eve Loss to Davidson

Loyola women’s basketball closed out 2025 at home with a 62-50 loss to Davidson College. Second-year guard Alexa Kinas contributed a career-high 18 points, while Wildcats third-year guard Katie Donovan tied Kinas with 18 points and added five steals.

Second-year Wildcat center Edina Strausz started the game with a jumper in the paint before Donovan stole the ball from Kinas and drew a foul, hitting a shot from the line. Kinas fought back with two of her own from the stripe before a 3-pointer from Donovan outdid her. 

First-year guard and forward Alex-Anne Bessette added a layup, but a jumper from first-year guard Elena Alvarez Castellanos kept it a two-possession game. Donovan added two at the line, and third-year guard Jasmine Timmerson splashed a three to make it a 13-4 game.

Loyola was nearly held off the board for seven minutes before Kinas hit a layup with less than a minute in the first. Bessette hit a 3-pointer at the horn as the Ramblers cut their deficit to 13-9.

Kinas went coast-to-coast on a steal and layup to make it a two-point game before the Wildcats woke up from their own seven-minute offensive slumber with an eight-point run. Donovan made a layup followed by two more from Strausz and a tip-in from fourth-year guard Charlise Dunn.

Mobley and Kinas went back-to-back on layups for Loyola, with Kinas’ coming off her own steal, but Davidson’s offense kept rolling. Second-year guard Emilie Bessell and Dunn hit consecutive lay-ins as the lead ballooned to 25-15.

Mobley made a tip-in before Bessette lost the ball on the next Loyola possession, leading to an easy two from Strausz. Kinas sank two at the line after being fouled by Bessell with a minute left in the half, before Donovan hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left to close the half with a 30-19 Wildcat lead.

Loyola opened the second half with a five-point run thanks to a Kinas layup and free throw as well as a Mobley floater. Alvarez Castellanos started an eight-point counter for Davidson with a layup, followed by two 3-pointers — one each from Donovan and Dunn. 

Mercille countered with a three, followed by a minute of cold shooting before second-year Davidson forward Candice Lienafa hit a layup, ensuing an and-one. Dunn finished a layup after a Donovan steal as Loyola trailed 43-27.

Kinas hit two more at the line before being outmatched by a three from second-year guard Angeliki Ziaka. Bessette and Vaughn teamed up for six straight points off a layup apiece and a jumper from Vaughn. Donovan ended the streak with a 3-pointer as Bessette ended the third quarter with a lay-in, trailing 49-37.

The Ramblers opened the fourth quarter with a Kinas three and Mobley layup to cut the lead to seven. Strausz came through with consecutive layups, being met by one from Vaughn. Dunn hit a free throw as Bessette sank two of her own, and a Vaughn layup made it 54-48 with five minutes to go.

Donovan made another foul shot, and Dunn tacked on two with a lay-in as the Ramblers’ hopes dwindled, down nine with two and a half minutes left. Vaughn’s layup with two minutes left was Loyola’s last points to bring the score to 57-50.

Timmerson followed with a layup, Dunn knocked in a free throw and Bessell drained two more at the line to seal Davidson’s 62-50 win.

After the game, head coach Allison Guth said she had “mixed emotions” over the loss.

“We didn’t score enough points to win, but there were a lot of positives,” Guth said. “I thought our team executed the scout at a high level and defended a very good Davidson offense as well. They’re a strong shooting team, and holding them to seven threes and 62 points was a big emphasis for us. We took pride in out-rebounding them, but turnovers hurt us — they turned 18 of ours into points.”

Loyola retakes the floor next in the new year, Jan. 3 at home against the University of Rhode Island at 7 p.m. Streaming will be available on ESPN+.