It can only get better for the Loyola women’s basketball team.

That’s the attitude the team is embracing as they head further into the second round of conference play.

After falling to ranked teams in its last two games, ‘Pack coach DoBee Plaisance said she is confident heading into the rest of conference play.

“I feel good going deep into the second round of conference,” Plaisance said. “We have the toughest teams (Xavier and Dillard) out of the way. I’m looking forward to the rest of these games. I feel strongly that we can play with the rest of our conference opponents.”

On Monday, the Wolfpack (1-23, 0-10) lost to twelfth-ranked Dillard University 75-54.

Loyola had trouble handling Blue Devils’ guard Theresa Samuels, both on offense and defense.

She finished the game with 24 points and seven steals. Dillard jumped out to a 25-11 lead after two Samuel 3-pointers and a layup.

Loyola scored seven of its first 11 points on free throws.

Loyola then went on a 9-2 run, sparked by a Stacia Jackson three- pointer.

But for the rest of the game, the Wolfpack could get no closer than seven points.

Dillard took over in the final five minutes of the game and cruised to a 21-point victory.

Jackson, communications sophomore , led Loyola with 18 points and seven rebounds. Management senior Melissa St. Mary and political science junior Carlee White had 17 and 14 points, respectively.

The team played the game without biology sophomore Joelle Bordelon, whom Plaisance called the team’s top point guard.

Despite the absence of Bordelon, who missed the game due to personal matters, Plaisance was pleased with the effort of her team to stay in the game.

“We played right there with them,” she said. “We were playing without one of our point guards (Bordelon). The team played hard and didn’t quit. We kept fighting. We executed our offense and they didn’t pull away until the end. [General studies sophomore] Kate Pilgreen stepped up and took the role of point guard and did a fabulous job.”

On Saturday, the sixteenth-ranked Xavier Gold Nuggets handed the Wolfpack an 88-71 loss.

St. Mary had a game-high 28 points but it was not enough to overcome the depth of Xavier.

Allison Williams came off the bench and led the Gold Nuggets in scoring with 17.

Jackson had 13 points and White added 10 for the ‘Pack.

Plaisance applauded her team’s tenacity and praised Xavier’s squad.

“We were right there and hung around. A Xavier player even said how hard our team fought and hung in there. They (Xavier) have a very balanced team. They have size, speed, height, and shooters.”

The ‘Pack will try to get its first conference win of the season tomorrow against Belhaven College at 5:30 p.m. in the Den.