For the first time since 1972, a Loyola team welcomed Division I neighbors Tulane University to the Den for an exhibition basketball match.
“We had a scheduling issue at Devlin, so the game wasn’t able to happen there,” Tulane head coach Ashley Langford said. “So it was nice that we only had to go across the street to make this happen. And it gave us a chance to play on someone else’s court and fans, which gives us a little bit more adversity, which is good for us.”
The Wolf Pack women’s basketball team welcomed the Green Wave for their first home contest of the 2024-25 season after two road games to open the year.
“We hadn’t played a game at home yet this year, and we don’t have a lot of home games this month because of how our schedule worked out, so you know it’s nice to be at home and try to create an exciting environment early in the season for the fans,” Loyola head coach Kellie Kennedy said.
The teams also met last season at Devlin Fieldhouse in the opener for the Green Wave, where they defeated Loyola 72-38.
For the Wolf Pack, it was their second consecutive match against Division I competition after traveling for a matchup with the University of New Orleans on Oct. 30 that ended in an 81-64 victory for the Privateers.
Tulane controlled most of the game en route to a 104-57 victory that saw them never trail at any point.
“It’s good to get some road experience and play in someone else’s gym,” Tulane head coach Ashley Langford said post-game. “It’s good to get people’s nerves out and get rid of some nervous energy and have another opportunity to get better.”
The Green Wave dominated the glass in this game, out rebounding Loyola 42-27 overall and 23-4 on offensive rebounds.
“We have to be able to take away the other team’s rebounding opportunities on offense and get more offensive rebounds on our end,” Kennedy said. “We only had four of those today, and that is not indicative of who we are and how we want to play.”
Langford credited the defensive-focused mindset that her team entered the game with for their performance in the victory.
“It all started with our play on the defensive end and on the glass,” Langford said. “We talked about dominating on the glass today, and I thought we had spurts where we really defended well, and we were able to get stops, get out in transition and have some fun.”
The Wolf Pack will play three straight road games after this contest, starting on Nov. 5 when they travel to Thomasville, Ga. to play Thomas University and then play their third and final game against a Division I opponent when they travel to play the University of Louisiana on Nov. 8.
“We can take a lot of things from a game like this,” Kennedy said. “D1 teams are usually very athletic, and shoot the ball really well, so it helps us to figure out the things that we really need to improve upon as the season goes on. By playing people who expose you and your mistakes, you get exposed to the things you need to improve on, and that can only help us.”
The Pack will return home to play in a doubleheader with the men’s basketball team against local rivals Xavier University of Louisiana on Nov. 18 with the women’s game starting at 5:30 p.m., and the men’s game at 7:30 p.m.
