March 6, 2008

Box Score

CHICAGO - Keisha Collins scored seven points in a decisive 13-0 first-half run and freshman Brittany Boeke poured in a season-high 20 points to lead Loyola to an 86-70 win over Youngstown State tonight at the Gentile Center. The win gets the Ramblers back in the win column and improves their record to 7-21 (5-12) while the Penguins slip to 12-16 (7-10) with their fourth straight loss.

The visitors opened the game hot, drilling a pair of early three-pointers to grab an early 7-2 lead. Loyola battled back and tied the game at nine on a Boeke basket but the Penguins played from the lead throughout the middle portion of the half, taking a 30-25 lead on two Tiara Scott free throws. Boeke answered with another hoop and Loyola turned up the defense, getting stops and turnovers to get back in the game. Collins reeled off seven straight points, the last three coming on a three-point play in the lane, to give LU a 34-30 lead and two Hylton buckets, the last on a steal and lay-up, capped the 13-point spurt and gave the Ramblers a 38-30 lead with 1:40 left in the half before they settled for a 38-32 halftime lead.

The Ramblers kept pushing coming out of the locker room, with Boeke scoring on the opening possession and Hylton draining a three-pointer next time down to make it a 43-32 game. Youngstown answered with a pair of hoops to draw within seven but Loyola was able to maintain its efficiency on the offensive end and extended the lead to 12 on a Boeke free throw. The lead hit 13 before the Penguins strung together two straight hoops to get their deficit back into single digits but it would be the last such time as Boeke fed Elyse VanBogaert for a hoop and Loyola would push out the lead from there, leading by as many as 21 before removing the starters.

Boeke hit her first seven shots from the floor before missing her last attempt en route to her career-best 20 points. Collins finished with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists while Hylton also reached double figures, pouring in 14. Loyola also received valuable minutes off the bench, particularly from Cierra Thurman (five points, team-high five rebounds) and Jana Lucas (five points, four boards, four assists).

Loyola wraps up its regular season on Saturday afternoon with a 2 p.m. game against Cleveland State. Seniors Nicole Garcia and Raven Gengler will be honored in a pre-game ceremony.