March 10, 2008

CHICAGO - Sophomore Elyse VanBogaert scored six of her 16 points in overtime and classmate Jessica Hylton knocked down a big three-pointer in the extra session to help Loyola to a 73-69 (OT) win tonight over UIC in a Horizon League First Round game at the UIC Pavilion. The ninth-seeded Ramblers (8-22) advance to Wednesday's quarterfinals where top-seeded Green Bay awaits. UIC's season ends with a 10-20 mark.

After watching UIC erase a four-point deficit with 39 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, Loyola regrouped and took control of the extra session. VanBogaert opened the scoring with a pair from the charity stripe and, after Cassie Johnson answered for UIC, scored again off a nice feed from Hylton to give LU a 63-61 lead. She drilled two more free throws to make it a 65-63 Rambler lead before Hylton drained a key three-ball from the right corner to extend to a five-point lead with two minutes left. After another defensive stop, Keisha Collins knocked down two at the line to make it a three possession game with 1:27 remaining and, although UIC would get as close as four in the final minute, the Ramblers were able to hang on for the win.

Leading by nine at the half, Loyola seemed poised to blow the game open, taking its largest lead of the night (35-24) on the second of two straight Shannon Finnegan buckets. UIC rattled off seven straight points, five from Jessie Miller, to pull within four before Maggie McCloskey knocked down a three-pointer to extend the lead back to seven. The Flames responded again and pulled within three (42-39) on another Miller hoop but a key three-pointer from Collins helped key a Rambler run that ended with the visitors holding a 52-43 lead with just over eight minutes left. Loyola's offense stagnated from there and a Shanice Sadler basket pulled the Flames within a point (52-51) with just over five minutes to play. VanBogaert broke a long drought with a lay-up inside and the Ramblers still held a four-point lead, 57-53, after Collins split a pair at the line with 2:12 to go. An acrobatic lay-up by Collins as the shot clock was winding down gave LU a seemingly comfortable 59-55 lead with 39 seconds left but Miller hit a pair from the line to cut the lead in half and Briana Hinkle scored her only bucket of the game off a turnover to tie the game at 59 with 14 seconds to play. Loyola held for a final shot but Collins was off the mark and the game progressed to overtime.

The late dramatics came on the heels of a sloppy first half in which Loyola was able to pound the ball inside and get to the foul line. The Ramblers shot just 31% in the period (9 of 29) but managed to hit 11 free throws to build a 31-22 lead at intermission.

Collins led Loyola with 17 points and added six rebounds and eight assists without a turnover in 39 minutes. VanBogaert narrowly missed her third double-double in as many games this season against UIC, finishing with 16 points and nine boards, while McCloskey (11), Hylton (10) and Boeke (10) also finished in double figures. Finnegan also came up just shy of a double-double, tallying eight points and a career-best 10 boards off the bench. Miller led UIC with 22 points, 14 rebounds and seven steals.

The Ramblers advance to face top-seeded Green Bay on Wednesday night. Tip-off from the Kress Center is set for 7 p.m.