Women’s Basketball Sneaks By Flyers After Nearly Blowing 22 Point Lead

Loyola women’s basketball pulled off a 71-68 Atlantic 10 road win over the University of Dayton after forcing the Flyers to 30 turnovers. Second-year guard Alexa Kinas scored a career-high 20 points for Loyola along with five steals, while third-year Flyer guard and forward Ajok Madol added 14 points.

Second-year forward Brooklyn Vaughn kicked off the game with a floater in the paint. Fourth-year guard Shantavia Dawkins followed two minutes later with a layup and a subsequent and-one to give Dayton the lead. 

A tip-in from Vaughn and a 3-pointer from first-year guard and forward Alex-Anne Bessette opened it to a 7-3 Loyola lead. Dayton went on a 6-0 run, started with a Dawkins free throw, followed by a foul shot from fourth-year guard Nayo Lear and bookended by a fastbreak layup from Lear. Madol hit two free throws as Dayton took a 9-7 lead.

A free throw from Vaughn and a steal and score from Kinas put the Ramblers in front. A steal from second-year forward Roisin Grandberry was thrown upcourt for another Kinas fastbreak layup, followed by another Kinas steal and fastbreak pass to Vaughn, who sank the lay-in.

Third-year center Fatima Ibrahim sank two free throws to get the Flyers back on the board. Bessette countered with a three met by three free throws from Dayton — one from graduate guard Maliyah Johnson and two from graduate guard Nicole Stephens. 

Bessette hit another layup, met by Ibrahim making one of her own to end the first quarter in a 19-16 Loyola lead.

Graduate guard Alexus Mobley opened the second quarter hot with five straight points off a 3-pointer and a steal and score. Madol and Vaughn traded field goals before Ibrahim scored one of her own.  

The next bucket came a minute later on a free throw from Stephens before Mobley contributed two of her own to kick off a 13-point rally. Fourth-year guard Kira Chivers drove in a layup, and third-year guard Audrey Deptula hit a three and a fastbreak layup. Third-year guard Rosalie Mercille finished a fastbreak off a Deptula block, and Vaughn made another jumper to make it 39-21. 

Madol made a layup to break the run, followed by two free throws from Kinas and another layup from Madol. Second-year Dayton forward and center Molly O’Riordan hit a jumper in the paint to end the half with the Flyers trailing 41-27.

The second half opened with two Vaughn free throws, matched by two from Madol. Kinas swished a floater, met by one from Lear. Bessette hit a three, and Kinas finished a fastbreak layup off a Chivers steal to extend the lead to 50-31.

Second-year Flyer guard Olivia Leung made a shot at the charity stripe as the Rambler offense fell silent for over four minutes. First-year forward M.G. Talle extended the run with two layups — one ending in an and-one — followed by a Johnson jumper to cut the Rambler lead down to 11.

Bessette ended the drought with a lone free throw, triggering a 10-0 run. Kinas finished back-to-back steals and scores before adding on another lay-in. Mobley had consecutive steals, finishing both plays to enact a 22-point lead — Loyola’s largest of the game. Leung ended the quarter for Dayton with a three as they hacked into the massive deficits, trailing 61-42 heading into the fourth.

The fourth-quarter was all Flyers, scoring the first 16 points of the quarter and holding Loyola scoreless until two minutes left in the game. Madol got the streak started with back-to-back layups, Lear and Stephens hit jumpers with Stephens tacking on the and-one. Lear made two layups, and Leung hit a three, with the score suddenly brimming closer at a 61-58 game.

Kinas hit the first shot of the quarter for Loyola on a jumper to bring the lead back to five. Leung hit a three to bring the lead down to two. Kinas and Stephens hit offsetting free throws as the Ramblers held the lead with less than a minute to go. 

After a Chivers miss, a fight for the ball ensued on the inbound with Mobley catching an errant Dayton pass at the logo with two seconds on the shot clock and heaving a deep three which swished at the buzzer, sending the Loyola bench into hysterics.

Lear hit two more free throws, and a five-second violation on Loyola gave Dayton another chance down three, but Lear turned it over, forcing the team to foul Vaughn, who sank both at the stripe. A Mobley free throw put the lead out of reach at six as a Stephens 3-pointer wasn’t enough as Loyola won 71-68.

Head coach Allison Guth spoke on how she was proud of the team fighting through adversity in the first and second halves of the win. 

“This was a tale of two halves,” Guth said. “I’m proud of how we set the tone with 41 points in the first half, especially since we’ve struggled to hit that mark in full games recently. While we faced a 16-0 run in the fourth quarter, I’m thrilled with how our team fought through adversity.”

Loyola takes the court next back home Jan. 11 against Saint Louis University at 1 p.m. Streaming will be available nationally on the USA Network.