Loyola women’s basketball coach DoBee Plaisance said that one of the strengths of her team is that it does not dwell on any game, win or lose. Instead, she said her team immediately focuses on the next game.
“We’re very confident,” Plaisance said. “Whether we win or lose, we don’t look back. They don’t get complacent after a win or less confident when they lose. It’s over. We know we can’t take it back. You have to care of the here and the now.”
The Wolfpack (13-6, 4-4 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference) is taking that attitude after a 61-56 loss to #16 ranked Dillard in the Den on Monday.
“The only thing we can control now is our game plan against Tougaloo,” Plaisance said, speaking of our team’s next game. “Our focus must be 100 percent on Tougaloo.”
Music business junior Kate Pilgreen made a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left in the game to cut the Blue Devil lead to one point. Then, Dillard committed a turnover.
Plaisance called a timeout to set up a play to give Loyola the lead and complete an 18-point comeback.
But sociology junior Joelle Bordelon’s shot didn’t fall, and Loyola was forced to foul. After two Dillard free throws, general studies freshmen Kiely Schork committed an offensive foul, preventing an attempt at a tying shot. Two more free throws by the Blue Devils iced the game.
Schork said that the team was disappointed in the loss but proud of its effort in the comeback.
“We know we could have beaten that team,” Schork said. “But we didn’t give up and being down 18, that’s a big deficit to come back from and make it close. I wished we could have pulled a win out but that didn’t happen.”
Plaisance said the comeback showed the toughness of her team.
“We dug ourselves into a hole,” she said. “We just can’t let that happen again. (Coming back) says a lot for our determination. I keep telling people that this team will not quit. We’re never really out of a ballgame.”
Plaisance said that Loyola has been two possessions from winning against Top 20 teams in the country.
Finance freshmen Marjorie Bilinski and criminal justice sophomore Dani Holland each had a double-double. Bilinksi had 13 points and 11 rebounds; Holland scored 11and had 12 boards.
The Wolfpack prevented a three-game losing streak with a 51-47 road victory against hated-rival Spring Hill Jan. 22.
Bilinski said that she understood the rivalry from the way the veterans were talking about the game.
“They said they had some incidents with Spring Hill in the past,” said Bilinski, who had a game-high 15 points. “They told us how they played dirty. That prepared our team for whatever they would throw at us.”
After losing two conference games in a row to William Carey and Xavier, Bilinski said the team felt a sense of urgency to get back in the win column.
Plaisance said ending the two-game skid against Spring Hill was important.
“It was huge,” she said. “Spring Hill is a good team for us to go on the road and beat. They took Xavier to overtime. To keep control of the game was good for us.”
