The Lady Wolfpack’s Kiely Schork and Dani Holland, in hauling the most experience on coach Dobee Plaisance’s first-place GCAC squad (17-8, 11-2 GCAC), have weathered almost every situation imaginable during the highs and lows of their careers.
Therefore, it made sense that when the stakes were the highest they’d ever been in the history of Loyola basketball against No. 23 Xavier, mass communication senior Schork and criminal justice graduate Holland were the ones that locked up sole possession of the conference’s top spot with a 76-66 win (their second ever against Xavier, improving the all-time series record to 2-22) and strengthened their bid to earn a Top 25 national ranking for the first time ever in school history.
“It’s certainly a testament to their character,” Plaisance said. “Any player can get themselves down and start making excuses. But these two, when they make mistakes, they own up to them and take ownership of their issues. But when they are playing right, they are humble.”
With the clock winding down on the Lady Wolfpack’s momentous win, there weren’t many issues for Holland and Schork to own up to but plenty of “playing right” – what the explosive and young Smith twins (Trenese scored 22 points and Trenell scored 14) got going, the two veterans ushered to its historic conclusion with level-headed, experienced, and downright clutch play.
As Xavier threatened to close in on a 59-51 deficit with 3:57 to go, Schork (20 points) connected on a kilometric three-point bomb that forced a frenzied Xavier to take a timeout and detonated volcanic elation in The Den’s packed stands. As Xavier advanced the ball on their next possession, she forced Xavier’s Jarryn Cleaves (led all scorers with 24 points) into a carry.
At 2:27, with the score still 62-51 after the two teams traded stops, Holland (who recorded a double-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds) buried a 20-foot jumper from the top of the key that forced Xavier into another timeout. But Xavier fought back to a 64-57 deficit with 1:22 to go and looked to have shaken the Lady Wolfpack from its composure on the court.
At that moment, Holland delivered a three-pointer that had The Den reaching decibel levels never before chartered as Xavier took its final timeout. She pumped her fists and howled in glee as she joined the huddle by Loyola’s bench.
“Dani hit some huge, huge shots,” Schork said. “It was very exciting.” As was evident by the standing ovation she merited in the last 8.3 seconds of the game, as Holland walked to the foul line to shoot for and score Loyola’s last two points of the evening.
Schork then absorbed a charge on the defensive end to guard the 10-point lead Holland’s shot afforded the Wolfpack. From there, Xavier sent Schork to the foul line twice and Trenell Smith, psychology freshman, to the foul line four times.
They both hit all six attempts as thunderous applause sustained long after the buzzer sounded and Plaisance’s ladies had marched off the court, kicking off the Hall of Fame weekend’s festivities by securing sole possession of the GCAC lead from Xavier.
“Today was one of the biggest,” a breathless Holland said afterward. “I’ve been waiting for this day since my freshman year and I’ve known that we could make it this far and we’ve finally done it.”
And finally, for Schork and Holland (who started the season sidelined with a torn meniscus and recovering from surgery), what had once been banter reserved for the locker room is finally reality.
“It’s something we talk about all the time – winning conference championships and being No. 1. And we’re finally right there,” Schork said.
Next up for Plaisance’s women is a Feb. 13 showdown with LSU-Shreveport on the road.
“We can’t focus on it too much. We have to be able celebrate (the Xavier win), but if we slip up against (LSU-Shreveport), we’re right back where we started,” Holland added.
Ramon Vargas can be reached at [email protected].
