Capping a three-game road trip, the women’s basketball team went 2-1 with wins over William Carey and Spring Hill and an overtime loss to Tougaloo. The men’s team performed opposite the women’s, winning against Tougaloo and dropping both games to William Carey and Spring Hill.
Loyola basketball fell a bucket short from dealing Tougaloo College an on-the-road sweep as the men’s squad tallied a 64-53 win, but the women dropped a 87-86 overtime decision on Monday at Kroger Gym in Tougaloo, Miss.
The men (2-6 GCAC) shot 50 percent from the field and from beyond the arc. They shot 80 percent from the foul stripe.
Guard play proved crucial as James Bunn, management senior, Torry Beaulieu, elementary education freshman, and Luke Zumo, general studies sophomore, combined for 55 points. Beaulieu led all scorers with 20 points and had five steals; Zumo had 18 points and led the team with six rebounds; and Bunn finished with 17, shooting 8-of-8 from the stripe.
Forward Mario Faranda, finance sophomore, also helped Zumo out on the boards, coming down with a total of four rebounds in 19 minutes of play.
The men protected the ball well on the floor, limiting themselves to 16 turnovers as they inflicted 22 turnovers on Tougaloo.
The ‘Pack men will play William Carey on Monday at The Den before hiking down Freret Street on Tuesday to face David Gomez and the Tulane Green Wave at Fogelman Arena.
Loyola’s women (3-4 GCAC) closed out the first half of their contest with a convincing 14-point lead, thanks to 64.7 percent shooting from the field.
Their 22 turnovers (as opposed to Tougaloo’s 10) and their 25 percent three-point shooting in the second half and in overtime, however, severely handicapped their efforts in maintaining their distance from rallying Tougaloo in the second half.
Tougaloo knotted the contest up at 79-79 at the end of regulation.
Dani Holland, criminal justice senior, led the ‘Pack’s efforts with 18 points and nine rebounds in 40 minutes of play. She shot a solid 50 percent from the field (7-of-14).
Kiely Schork, communications junior (who hit four three-pointers), Kimberly Rigg, general studies junior and Marjorie Bilinski, finance junior, also tallied double figures in scoring. Respectively, they had 15, 16 and 12 points.
The women closed out the day in sixth place in the GCAC. They meet Spring Hill on Monday at The Den. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m.
Ramon Vargas can be reached at [email protected].
