Women’s basketball holds off Canisius rally

The Loyola women's basketball team returned home from a four game road trip to knock off the Canisius Lady Griffins, 70-62. The Hounds never trailed on Thursday as they avenged a 65-55 loss to the Griffins in Buffalo, NY. With the win, the Greyhounds improve to 9-13 (5-6 MAAC) and are within a half game of fourth place in the MAAC. Head Coach Joe Logan said, "We lost to Canisius up at their place a week ago so its a great bounce back win, its good to be home." The top four teams at the end of the regular season advance to the MAAC Tournament in Springfield, Mass. Before the start of the game, Logan was presented with a commemorative basketball in a special ceremony to celebrate his 100th career victory. Logan is now the all time winningest coach in Loyola women's basketball history.

The Greyhounds opened the game with a hot start, mounting a 14-5 lead early in the game. A balanced attack in the first half, led by Miriam McKenzie and Nneka Offodile, allowed the Hounds to enter the break with a 33-21 advantage.

The Greyhounds struggled with rhythm in the second half, shooting only 34 percent from the field while allowing Canisius to shoot an astounding 54 percent. The Golden Griffins were able to slowly chip away at Loyola's lead but were never able to get within more than five points of the Hounds. The Hounds led by as much as 19 points with 13 minutes left in the second half but were held without a field goal for eight minutes, allowing Canisius to make a run.

Canisius forward Jamie Ruttle cut Loyola's lead to 58-53 with 2:21 remaining and led the Griffins with 24 points. Katie Sheahin responded quickly to put the Hounds back up by seven before Loyola iced the game with 10-straight free throws in the final minute.

Loyola had four scorers in double digits in the contest. The Hounds were 22 of 28 from the free throw line, and 20 of 24 from the line in the second half. Kara Marshall led Loyola in free throws attempted, going 10 for 10; she finished with 15 points.

Katie Sheahin, who now sits three steals shy of the all time Loyola career record, grabbed two steals and put up 17 points. Sheahin is now just short of Lorrie Schenning's career record of 248 steals, which has stood since 1990.

Nneka Offodile paced the Hounds in the first, scoring eight of her 10 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Miriam McKenzie led all Greyhounds in scoring and rebounding with 22 points and nine rebounds. The Hounds forced 17 turnovers and committed a season low of only seven. Loyola outrebounded Canisius 36-26 with an 18-3 advantage on the offensive end.

The Hounds also notched a total of 15 assists. The Loyola women are undefeated this season when putting up 14 or more assists. The Hounds got into foul trouble late in the game with both Kara Marshall and Nneka Offodile playing with four fouls along with Alyssa Sutherland and Miriam McKenzie with three. "We were fortunate, we were able to steal a couple minutes with Kara in the second half, being a freshman playing with four fouls is dangerous is a little dangerous," said Logan. Kara Marshall has averaged over 10 points a game during her freshman campaign.

The win is also the first back-to-back victory for the Hounds since defeating Howard and Army on November 27 and December 3. The Greyhounds have been struggling to find consistency all season and need it now more than ever, entering the final stretch of the regular season.

The Hounds take on Iona and Fairfield after their matchup with Rider. The Hounds return to the road for another three game trip before closing out the season at home against conference leading rival Marist.