Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks couldn’t do it. Joakim Noah and the Florida Gators couldn’t do it. And in losing 78-77 in overtime in their NAIA national tournament opener to No. 3 seed Southern Nazarene (Okla.), coach Dobee Plaisance and the women’s Wolfpack basketball team couldn’t win 18 in a row either, thus ending their best season ever with a 26-9 record.
“We gave a valiant effort and we were very courageous, out there,” a subdued Plaisance said. “Just three years ago, they were winning back-to-back national champions. We were outsized and outmatched tonight and it was just a situation where it wasn’t meant to be tonight.
“I’m very proud to say I coached this Loyola basketball team. They made a difference for the whole university and they’ve certainly made a difference in my life.”
The Wolfpack women led until there was 1:13 to go in the overtime period and lost despite outscoring Southern Nazarene 40-18 in the paint and 24-18 off Southern Nazarene’s 24 turnovers.
In her last game ever for Loyola, criminal justice graduate student Dani Holland exerted a memorable effort, leading all scorers with 20 points and her team in rebounding with eight boards. As the clock wound down, she hit four free-throws and a three-pointer to keep Southern Nazarene from overtaking the Wolfpack in regulation.
“Her whole career she battled injury after injury. She had three weeks this year with a torn meniscus and underwent her fifth knee surgery and battled her way back to the floor. It’s indicative to how this team is. We just needed a few breaks tonight and we didn’t get them. But I want them to be remembered as a courageous bunch of young women that fought until the bitter end, just like Dani did,” Plaisance said.
Plaisance’s squad brandished the balanced scoring that carried them to their first Gulf Coast Athletic conference regular season and tournament titles, with twin psychology sophomores Trenell and Trenese Smith (14 and 17 points, respectively), mass communication senior Kiely Schork (13 points), and psychology pre-med senior Kimberly Rigg also scoring in double figures.
They sped off to a commanding 53-36 lead with 12:51 to go in the second period. From there, Southern Nazarene outscored them 34-17 in the remaining time to tie it 70-70 at the end of regulation.
Loyola last tied the game with 22 seconds to go. Up 76-75, Southern Nazarene sent Trenell Smith to the line with the Wolfpack in double bonus. Smith split her attempts to tie it 76-76.
On the ensuing advance, Southern Nazarene’s Lashelle Chandler scored in the post off a Khady Ngom assist with 13 ticks left on the clock. It proved to be the winning basket.
Ngom led the Oklahoma squad with 17 points (seven-of-11 field goals) and 11 rebounds.
Southern Nazarene’s Brittni Brown fouled Trenell Smith and sent her to the charity stripe with three seconds left in overtime. Again, Smith split her free throws, and down 78-77, the Wolfpack was forced to foul.
Mara Kee of Southern Nazarene missed the front end of her bonus free throw. Rigg hauled down the rebound and sent an outlet pass to Trenese Smith, who turned the ball over.
The buzzer then sounded on the women’s basketball program’s best season in history.
“The game was intense from start to finish. It was two quality teams with different make-ups – they were the bigger team with a deeper bench. But we gave a great effort, even though we were outmatched in height anywhere on the floor by four or five inches,” Plasiance said.
When the night was through, Southern Nazarene’s bench had outscored Loyola’s 34-10 and had outscored Loyola 20-13 off second-chance points, exploiting the Wolfpack’s lack of size inside.
Regardless, Plaisance finds hope in the fact that she’s only losing Holland and forward Katie Hernandez, English senior, to graduation.
“We have a strong nucleus. We’re losing Dani and Katie, but besides that, everyone’s coming back. There is a very bright, very strong future for Loyola women’s basketball,” she said.
Ramon Vargas can be reached at [email protected].
