The Loyola Wolfpack women’s basketball team (3-18, 0-7) lost two more games this week, but the players are not giving up, coach Dobee Plaisance said. The ‘Pack played William Carey (7-11, 2-5) on Jan. 26. The ‘Pack outscored the Crusaders in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to make up the 36-20 first half deficit as the ‘Pack lost, 67-54.”We’ve won second halves almost more than we’ve lost first halves,” Plaisance said.Melissa St. Mary, management junior, led all scorers with 20 points. Stacia Jackson, communications freshman, had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Carlee White, co-captain and political science sophomore, got eight points and 11 rebounds.”We had one of our better shooting games, but it was only 33 percent,” Plaisance said. The ‘Pack then faced 21st-ranked Xavier (15-4, 4-1) on the 24th. The game was the ‘Pack’s 14th loss against the Gold Rush in as many tries. St. Mary led all scorers with 21 points.”Fifteen minutes into the game, we were only behind a point,” Plaisance said.The score at halftime, however, was 43-21. The second half was closer than the first half.”We play really good teams, but we haven’t seen a team we couldn’t beat,” White said. “As a transfer, Melissa is putting up good numbers. Jill (Tucker, communications junior) has been stepping up a lot.””There’s not a game I don’t think we could win,” Plaisance said. “We have three kids ranked in the GCAC, two nationally. It shows that we have ability.”Plaisance said that, while it is not an excuse, the team has two freshman point guards. At the post, one key player is a freshman, and the other is a sophomore.”They have been effective. The good news is they’ll become good senior point guards,” Plaisance said.The other co-captain, Nathalie Boffy, psychology sophomore, is out for the season with a knee injury, but Plaisance said her encouragement and leadership have been invaluable.

Click here to start a discussion on this story.