The Wolfpack took control of the game in the second half as Loyola extended their seven point first half lead with a 16-2 run in the opening five minutes of the period. Christine Mainguy, who had six points during the run, scored the first points of the half with a jumper in the paint. She ended the stretch with another field goal in the lane to give the Wolfpack a 55-34 lead with 14:54 to play.
Loyola (27-6) widened the advantage to 25 points at the nine minute mark as Kiely Schork hit one of her five three pointers in the game to make the score 64-39.
Westminster rallied to cut the lead to 10 points over the next five minutes. The run ended as the Griffins hit four unanswered three pointers with the last coming from Elisa Evans with 4:12 to play trim the margin to 67-57.
Loyola broke the drought with buckets on their next two possessions with Trenese Smith’s field goal pushing the lead back up to 71-57 with 2:50 to play. The Wolfpack held on for the 73-64 victory.
Loyola had four players score in the contest- all were in double figures. Trenell Smith had 28 points on 11 of 19 shooting from the floor. It is the 15th time this season that the LaPlace, La. native went over 20 points in a game. Smith also went over the 600 point mark this season. She currently has 610 points this season. Smith is only the second person in Wolfpack women’s basketball history to hit that plateau. Her sister Trenese did it earlier this season.
Kiely Schork finished with 19 points including 5 of 7 from behind the arc. Trenese Smith and Christine Mainguy added 13 points each for the Wolfpack. Mainguy had a team high 10 rebounds for her eighth double double of the season.
For Westminster (24-8), Shannon Evans had 18 points on 6 of 15 shooting from the field. Alexis Trucker had 16 points and a game high 15 rebounds. Kelsi Olsen and Elisa Leader each finished with 11 points rounding out the leaders.
In the first half, Loyola never trailed as Trenell Smith put back her own miss to give the Wolfpack the 2-0 lead 12 seconds into the game.
Four minutes later, Westminster tied the game 4-4 as Elisa Leader’s bucket off an assist from Shannon Evans evened the score.
Loyola responded with a 25-9 run over the next eight minutes to gain their largest advantage of the half- 16 points. Kiely Schork capped the run with one of her three 3 pointers in the half.
The Griffins cut into the lead eventually sending the teams to the locker room with Loyola leading 39-32.
The victory was the first in Loyola’s history at the NAIA Tournament and also extended the Wolfpack record for wins in a season to 27. The previous record was last season when the Wolfpack won 25 games. This is the third time Loyola has appeared in the NAIA Tournament. The Wolfpack lost in the first round in 2005 and 2007.
Loyola, a four seed in the tournament, advances to the second round to take on Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.). PNU is the top seed in the Wolfpack’s bracket. The Sea Lions (29-2) defeated Robert Morris 60-41 on Thursday afternoon to advance to the round of 16 and are ranked No. 3 in the latest NAIA poll. Tip off between the Wolfpack and Sea Lions is set for 12:30 p.m. on Friday at Oman Arena.
Comments from Loyola head coach DoBee Plaisance: “We knew Westminster would get their runs and we warned our kids about that. It is a testament to our team that we kept our composure and withstood their runs today. We played unselfish basketball and that makes us dangerous when we can spread it around. We’ve been here three times and it was nice to get our first win at the biggest stage that we compete. I was happy for our kids and the University.”
Follow all the tournament action at:
http://naia.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/103106aac.html
Helpful links:
http://wolfpack.loyno.edu
http://wolfpack.loyno.edu/giving
http://gcaconf.com
http://naia.org
http://loyolamaroon.com
http://blog.nola.com/wolfpack/
Subscribe to all the latest Wolfpack news at: http://wolfpack.loyno.edu/packbackers_newsletter.php
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