Loyola Greyhound

Issue date: 12/11/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Klare Frank Siobhan Prior has had the "hot hand."

Media Credit: Kat Kienle Walker tallied a career-best 16 points to propel the Hounds by the Griffins.

By Pete Theis
Staff Writer


Fresh off of winning their first MAAC game of the season, the Loyola women's basketball team defeated a tough Canisius squad 55-53 on Sunday afternoon. The Greyhounds, who were down by as many as seven, fought back to squeak out the victory.

"Every game will be a battle in the MAAC," head coach Joe Logan said. "We definitely have to win every home game," stated Coach Logan.

In the first half, Canisius got hot from the floor, connecting on many of their shots and taking advantage of second-chance points. However, with just under seven minutes remaining in the half, and Loyola down 26-20, the Greyhounds kick started their defensive pressure to go on a 9-3 run for the rest of the period.

A big three-pointer by junior Siobhan Prior followed by a layup from sophomore Kaitlin Grant and scores by freshman Candice Walker and senior Meghan Wood pulled the Hounds even at 29 points apiece.

Loyola took a lead 33-31 just three minutes into the second half, and at the halfway mark three-pointers from Prior and freshman Meredith Tolley gave Loyola a three-point lead at 44-41.

The Griffs got the lead back and had a two-point advantage after a three-point play, but Loyola fought back. Prior hit yet another three, and Wood hit 1-of-2 foul shots. Up by two, Walker leaped in front of her defender to grab a steal and went the distance to make a layup and give the Hounds a four-point lead with 2:51 remaining.

Canisius had a shot to tie in the waning seconds when Amanda Cavo was fouled attempting a three-point shot. After making 2-of-3 shots, Cavo intentionally missed the third. Canisius' JJ Williams grabbed for the offensive rebound, but her last-second shot that would have tied the game missed.

The hot hand of Prior has been unconscious the last two games. Against Canisius she went 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, including two big three's late in the second half.

"I really have to give all the credit to my teammates. They've been able to find me when I've been open. and I have to believe that I am going to score every time," Prior said. "It was a total team effort today. The team has been gelling a lot better offensively lately."

Walker led the Hounds with a career-best 16 points. She was followed by Grant and Prior with 11 apiece and Wood with 10.

Determination seems to be a reoccurring theme for the Hounds. Down at halftime, the Hounds dug in deep and shot 52 percent from the field in the second half for a gritty win in their MAAC opener against Niagara on Friday night at Reitz Arena, 63-50.

The first half saw Loyola commit 13 turnovers, which Niagara turned into 13 points. Loyola, however, managed to stay in the game thanks to Wood, who battled for 11 points in the paint.

"Our problem in the first half was that we were trying so hard to score a 20-point basket," Logan said. "We had to settle down and stop hurting ourselves with the turnovers."

The second half started with an up-tempo pace as both teams exchanged baskets before Loyola bit down on defense and took a 42-38 lead with just under eight minutes remaining. The Hounds, who wore down Niagara, took off as Prior stepped up to hit a big three-pointer from the wing to give Loyola a seven-point lead.

The Purple Eagles' Jennifer McNamee connected on two foul shots after a foul by Wood to cut their deficit to seven at 47-40, but Prior nailed another foul-line jump shot to increase the Loyola lead to nine. Niagara would respond again when Erika Harris scored the last two of her team-best 14 points on a layup. Prior, however, continued her hot shooting by hitting a 17-foot jump shot at the top of the circle to keep Niagara at bay.

Loyola would close out the game thanks to several big foul shots from Walker.

"It's great to have a point guard who can make decisions and big time shots," Logan said. "When Candice puts her mind to it and goes in hard for a basket it's going to be really tough to contain her."

Wood and Walker both led the team in scoring with 15 points apiece, while senior Tynisha Davis stepped up with 12 points.

"I am really happy about this win," Logan said. "In the second half we did a much better job of defending Niagara and hanging on to the ball."

The win over Niagara came on the heels of a thriller against UMBC last Monday at Reitz Arena. With the game knotted up at 55, Tolley hit a 12-foot jump shot to put the Hounds up two. After both teams traded a free throw apiece, UMBC's last gasp jump shot at the buzzer missed as Loyola hung on for a 58-56 victory, effectively ending their three-game losing streak.

"It is a good win for us since we were on the downhill with that 0-3 streak," Wood said. "But we are back at it now. We still have not played our best as a team yet … but to be winning games when not playing that great is a good sign of what we can do when we are playing up to our abilities."

The game did not look like it was going to be close as the Retrivers used a 14-0 run to take a 10-point lead, 50-40, with less than eight minutes left in the game. However, the Hounds answered with a 12-1 run to take the lead, which led to Tolley's heroics.

"We showed a lot of character coming back from being down 10 in the second half," Logan said. "The team handled the situation great fighting back one possession at a time, and that's what you need to do to overcome those deficits."

Kaitlyn Drabyn led UMBC with 24 points, while Carlee Cassidy, whose last-second jump shot came up short and sealed the win for Loyola, added 17 points. Wood notched her third career double-double 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Davis had 12 points and Tolley added nine. With her 11 points, Wood surpassed 500 points in her Loyola career.

The Hounds conclude their four-game homestand against Columbia at 1 p.m. on Dec. 22.

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