For those keeping count, the Lady Wolfpack’s 64-58 win over Dillard University was their eighth straight overall, tenth straight at The Den – both of which are among the elite active winning streaks in all of collegiate basketball.
Said coach Dobee Plaisance, “It’s the mark of a good team when you can go out there and not give your best but still pull off another win. We certainly did not execute well on offense tonight, and what I mean by that is finishing – we will not be able to go down the stretch and shoot (7-of-19) from the free throw line in the second half alone.”
Late in the game, the Lady Blue Devils sent Plaisance’s shooters to the line so as to halt the march of the clock. A poor performance from the line turned a 56-44 deficit to a 58-53 deficit as a result, but Loyola took advantage of the easy baskets they rattled off as a result of the 25 turnovers they forced Dillard into.
“We just were not finishing, and from the free throw line, the hard part is getting there. The easy part is making the shots,” an audibly annoyed Plaisance explained. “But I told them to go home and say their prayers because this was the chance the Lord gave them.”
The Wolfpack’s start was especially sluggish, as Dillard stormed the court and orchestrated an 8-0 run before Trenese Smith, psychology freshman, put back twin sister Trenell’s missed layup for Loyola’s first points.
Trenese finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds and five steals in an impressive outing.
Psychology freshman Trenell Smith, who paced the ‘Pack’s attack with 18 points on seven-of-16 shooting, later tied the game at 8 with a coast-to-coast basket and foul shot conversion off a long rebound midway through a low-scoring first half.
She authored the play of the game when she faked a pass as she dribble penetrated, executed a behind-the-back crossover and scooped a shot off the backboard for a 26-23 lead.
After a three-pointer from mass communication senior Kiely Schork (eight points on two-for-13 shooting) to close the half, afforded to her because criminal justice graduate Dani Holland (four points, four assists) slapped an offensive rebound from the lane to the perimeter on the bounce, Loyola held a 31-25 lead to close the half.
Management junior Christine Mainguy (five points) secured the win for the Lady Wolfpack late in the game. As Dillard chased to foul Trenell Smith on the inbounds pass, Plaisance’s ball-handlers strung together a succession of passes from baseline-to-sideline-to-baseline that found Mainguy unmarked under Dillard’s goal. She dropped in the easy score for Loyola’s 64th and final point.
“We have a monster week ahead,” Plaisance said, referring to a midweek showdown against Tougaloo on the road and then a Hall of Fame weekend collision with conference-leading against Xavier at The Den on Feb. 10.
DILLARD MEN DEAL GIORLANDO’S WOLFPACK A 73-67 LOSS
With less than a minute to go, a Luke Zumo three-pointer had Loyola facing a mere 68-66 deficit.
But an abysmal day from the free throw line and injuries to starting forwards Mario Faranda, finance junior, and Nick Tuszynski, general business freshman, were too steep of mountains for the Wolfpack to scale against the Dillard Blue Devils.
“That’s one of the goals we have – we try to get more attempts than that of the opponent. But then you have to make 70 to 80 percent of those, so the margin of error is very small, so when we get on the line, we need to make it happen,” coach Michael Giorlando said.
Loyola shot an inefficient 16-for-28 from the free throw line, making half of 14 attempts in the second half.
“It’s very, very disappointing,” he added.
As for the injured players, “(Tusyznski) had an ankle injury and (Faranda) had something with his knee. It doesn’t look like anything serious at this point, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
Zumo, psychology junior, brandished his scorching scoring as usual, amassing 22 points on six-of-14 shooting and four-of-10 three-pointers.
History sophomore guard Torry Beaulieu and Faranda each had 10 points.
Faranda authored the play of the game after he collected a pass from general business junior Bear Wurts (four points, three assists), flew over Dillard’s Joshua Mitchell and threw down a two-handed jam that detonated The Den into revelry.
A 9-0 run in the second half after Loyola had clawed its way back to a 41-40 deficit, coupled with Loyola’s poor free throw shooting, helped a visibly inexperienced a rattle-prone Dillard team leave the floor with a win.
Dillard’s Dupree Fletcher scored a game-high 23 points.
Ramon Vargas can be reached at [email protected].
History sophomore Torry Beaulieu draws contact as he executes a running jump shot at The Den on Feb. 3 against Dillard in a 73-67 loss. Beaulieu scored 10 points.
