Women's Basketball drops two tough conference contests

It appeared as though it would be a positive outcome for the Loyola women's basketball team on Monday afternoon, but the clutch shooting from the visiting Golden Griffins of Canisius down the stretch proved too much as Loyola fell 73-67. The Hounds could not quiet the three-point shooting from their MAAC foe and paid the price as a late three by Brianna Lucas with 33 seconds left silenced the crowd at Reitz arena on Martin Luther King Day and ensured the Canisius victory.

The visiting Golden Griffiths raced out to an early 11-5 lead off of an Allison Braun foul-line jumper.

"We started out in man-man coverage but found that they were quicker than us initially. We tried to press them but they were beating us and we were out of position for many rebound opportunities," stated Coach Joe Logan. "In the second half we went to a zone, which slowed them down a lot and were able to get those important rebounds."

After a series of traded shots, Loyola inched closer towards evening the score. A pull-up three by Loyola's Katie Sheahin and another tally from beyond the arc by McKenzie kept the deficit to 8 at 44-36. After a rebound on a Canisius missed shot, the Hounds implemented one of the nicer plays of this season. With just 8 seconds remaining on the game clock, McKenzie took the ball up to the three point line before hitting Sheahin underneath the basket on a nicely fed pass, where she put in a driving lay-up at the buzzer to keep Loyola's spirits in the game at 44-38.

The second half of action could not have been any different as both teams tightened up their defense, and neither squad could find the net as it was a cold shooting contest. Canisius' Brittany Russell broke the scoring drought a deep three.

Loyola would answer with a scoring run that included a Meredith Tolley three and an Erica DiClemente Layup, to cut the visitors lead to 51-46. Within minutes a steal from Kaitlin Grant lead to her driving in for a 2-point basket and just a 3 pointer away from tying game as the lead was cut to 55-52.

Loyola would grab their first lead of the game when McKenzie collected a steal then charged coast-coast for a layup and the 62-61 lead. The squads traded the lead until, Canisius down by one; found Lucas open in the corner, where she buried the decisive shot. Loyola attempted to even the game, but would not find the net as McKenzie missed a long fadeaway jumper.

"I am just trying to do whatever I can to keep my team in the game," said the sophomore McKenzie. "I'm still transitioning towards being a leader and just trying to find my role on the team. Right now I'm trying to watch the defense and take whatever they give me."

McKenzie led the Greyhounds in scoring with 22 points.

"Miriam is having a great year. She's still only played 27 games for us so she is still learning," said Coach Logan. "She is young and going to miss some shots but she is a great competitor." and Kaitlin Grant continued her all-around good play despite the loss with 14 points, 7 rebounds, three assists and three steals.

It was not a night of good fortune as the Loyola Women's basketball team connected on just 10 field goals for the entire contest in a loss to the Siena Saints 59-33 on Friday night.

Right from the start of the game Loyola's problems began as they could not deter the inside matchup against Siena's Sarah Fullmer. From the beginning, both teams had trouble scoring as the score remained 3-0 Siena nearly five minutes into the contest. It was not until the hounds' Devon Carey connected on two foul shots that the team got on the board. The next 8 minutes of the game was still low scoring and high defensive pressure

The Saints had the lead at 12-9 after an acrobatic three by Meredith Tolley kept the Hounds in the game. However, Siena would build up their lead again after a 9-0 run. After a pair of jumpers found the net, Loyola found itself down by 11, 29-18 at the break.

The second half of play did not fare much better as Loyola hit their last field goal of the game at the 10-minute mark. A lay-up from McKenzie right out of the gate appeared that the Hounds would inch closer into the game, but that was not too be as Siena's inside play proved to be too hard to handle.

Loyola falls to 4-3 in MAAC play and 9-9 overall. Miriam McKenzie scored 13 points for the Hounds and Devon Carey added 7 points of her own.

The Hounds will look to straighten out their shooting woes and get back on the winning track as they battle Marist in Poughkeepsie, New York for their 8th MAAC game this season.