Bessette Brings Buckets in Women’s Basketball’s 71-64 Win Over Billikens

Coming off an Atlantic 10 (A10) road win over the University of Dayton, Loyola women’s basketball backed up their play with a 71-64 win over Saint Louis University. First-year guard and forward Alex-Anne Bessette had a game high 20 points, while Saint Louis’ first-year center Alyssa Koerkenmeier scored 14 points with 10 rebounds.

Bessette spoke on the Billikens being weaker in the gaps, leading to her strong night scoring.

“I came off a game where they were heavier in the gaps, and today I felt like the gaps were more open for me to go downhill,” Bessette said. “Also for me, starting a game with a bucket in the paint makes it easier for me to just keep going after that.”

Despite losing the opening tip, Bessette opened the scoring by fooling the Billiken defense with a spin move and layup. Loyola was caught in a defensive switch as first-year guard Kera Brown drained a corner three to put Saint Louis up 3-2. 

Second-year guard Alexa Kinas matched it with a tough layup to retake the lead. Graduate guard Alexus Mobley expanded the lead with a floater, but the Billikens matched with a 3-pointer from graduate guard Zya Nugent. 

Bessette brought Loyola back in front after being fouled on a drive and sinking both at the line. Koerkenmeier was fouled by Bessette on the next possession where she also drained both at the stripe. Bessette’s hot start continued as she finished another layup to make it 10-8 in favor of the Ramblers.

A second foul on Bessette sent her to the bench as graduate Billiken guard Lex Nelson hit one of two shots. After four straight scoreless possessions, Koerkenmeier broke through to give the Billikens back the lead at 11-10. 

Third-year guard Rosalie Mercille sent Saint Louis graduate guard Isabel Tillett to the line with a hard foul where she converted both. Fourth-year guard Kira Chivers was sent to the line on a reach-in foul — which put Loyola in the bonus — where she hit both to bring the Ramblers back within one. 

Second-year forward Roisin Grandberry added on to put Loyola back in front on a driving layup. The lead didn’t last as first-year Billiken guard Jahda Denis sank a corner three for the last score of the quarter as Saint Louis led 16-14.

First-year forward Nevaeh Dickman opened the quarter with a layup and foul, but she missed the and one opportunity. Nugent countered with a layup and third-year guard Audrey Deptula sank a 3-pointer. Saint Louis refused to back down with Brown adding two on a lay-in.

A third-chance layup from Koerkenmeier finally went down to give the Billikens a three point lead before Deptula tied it with another elbow three. Chivers followed with a missed deep three which was rebounded and put back in by Grandberry to give Loyola the 24-22 lead.

Third-year Saint Louis forward Jada Tiggett hit a jumper to tie before Bessette drew a foul on the other end, sinking both at the line. Bessette expanded the Loyola lead on a tough drive and made the subsequent and one to make it 29-24.

Second-year Billiken guard Mia Bergstrom sank a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two until Bessette added a put back after getting her own miss. A poor pass from Bessette on the inbound gave Nelson an easy two before first-year guard Daniella Matus grabbed an offensive board and put it in for a 33-29 advantage. 

Brown hit a layup to cut the lead down to two before Chivers was fouled and made both at the line. Mobley was fouled resulting in a one-for-two trip to the line. A block by Grandberry and missed three from Saint Louis gave Mobley a fast break where she was fouled, making one at the line again. Nelson got a fadeaway off for the Billikens which didn’t fall as Loyola led 37-31 at halftime. 

Bessette broke open the scoring in the third with a crossover and spinning move in the paint for a layup, matched by a Denis three. Mobley knocked down a jumper the next possession and a foul on Koerkenmeier gave Loyola the ball. Kinas took the opportunity to swish a corner three to make it 44-34 — Loyola’s largest lead of the game. 

Koerkenmeier made an easy layup followed by a three-point play for Nelson and a fastbreak layup from Brown off a turnover to cut the Rambler advantage down to three. A Nelson jumper cut it to one and another Loyola miss led to a Koerkenmeier make to give Saint Louis the lead. A turnover by Grandberry led to another free fastbreak for Nugent to make it 47-44 as the Billikens capped off a 13-0 run forcing a Loyola timeout.

A Denis three expanded the run to 16-0. Chivers finally broke the near five minute scoreless stretch for Loyola with a three which was met by a Brown layup. An aggressive foul on Chivers that resulted in both her and Nugent hitting the floor was Chivers fourth foul sending her to the bench. Nugent hit one to make it 53-47. 

Deptula fouled Koerkenmeier on a call which sparked a loud reaction from head coach Allison Guth. Koerkenmeier made both free throws to expand the lead to eight. Multiple misses by Mobley were saved by a putback from Bessette, who blocked a layup at the other end which landed out of bounds with 1.2 seconds on the clock. The Billikens missed at the buzzer to make it 55-49 at the end of the third quarter.

A shooting foul on second-year forward Brooklyn Vaughn perplexed Guth who argued with the refs to no avail, as it resulted in two more free throws for the Billikens courtesy of Nelson. Kinas was left wide open in the corner off an inbound for Loyola where she sank the three before intercepting a pass and finishing the fast break to make it 57-54. 

A Billiken airball was caught and put back in by Denis before Vaughn was fouled but missed both chances at the line. Denis tacked on two for Saint Louis off an inbound to make it 61-54. Mobley fought back with a jumper at the end of the shot clock. Three straight fouls by Loyola on a single possession didn’t result in points for Saint Louis. 

A foul on Nelson gave Loyola another chance on offense after a missed three from Grandberry, who made up for it with a layup. Another Grandberry foul sent Koerkenmeiere to the line where she hit both. Chivers found Grandberry on a cut as she hit another lay-in to make it 63-60. 

Chivers drew a charge leading to a logo three to tie it at 63, triggering a roar from the Gentile crowd. Consecutive misses from Saint Louis gave the Ramblers the ball with 90 seconds to go as Guth called a timeout to gather her troops for the final push. 

A push from Tillett sent Chivers to the line as Loyola entered the bonus. Chivers took advantage, hitting both shots to give Loyola their first lead of the quarter. A Kinas steal and score sparked more cheers from the Gentile crowd, which was ignited with energy from the comeback as Loyola held the 67-63 lead with a minute to play. 

Grandberry fouled Tillett who went to the line and hit one. Loyola called timeout with 42 seconds left after Bessette grabbed the rebound. Chivers had the ball swiped away, but good transition defense and a tip from Kinas gave Saint Louis 20 seconds to tie it down three. 

Tillett mishandled the inbound pass leading to a backcourt violation as Loyola got the ball back with 13.2 left. Bessette inbounded to Deptula who was fouled with 10.5 left, sinking both to make it 69-64 as Saint Louis used their last timeout.

A missed three landed out of bounds after a fight for the rebound as Guth called her final timeout with 2.7 seconds left. Grandberry was fouled and sank both as Saint Louis didn’t get a shot off as Loyola captured their second straight A10 victory 71-64. 

With back-to-back wins scoring 71 points, Guth spoke on what has led to Loyola’s recent success offensively. 

“I think we are playing to our player’s strengths a bit better in simplifying our offense,” Guth said. “We’re finding ways to take some size away from the rim, which creates some open angles for us to get downhill. There’s a bit of a package we put in since Oakland that helps us flow into being aggressive and getting downhill.”

The Ramblers take a two-game road trip next as they face George Mason University Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 6 p.m. in Fairfax, Va. as they look to hit .500 in the conference. Streaming will be available on ESPN+.