Sports
Loyola Women's Basketball Moves to 4-1
The Loyola Ramblers are of to a hot start at 4-1. I will be "On the Beat" all season, recapping all here.
A couple weeks ago, Grad student forward Sitori Tannin won the opening tip. Grad student guard Naelle Bernard made a three-pointer to put the Ramblers up 3-0. They would cruise to a 91-56 victory over Kentucky State.
Next, they beat West Georgia 76-60. City rival DePaul upset Loyola 75-60 at Gentile Arena to hand the Ramblers their first loss. The team bounced back though, beating SIEU (57-52) and Valparaiso (70-62) to start a new win streak and move to 4-1.
Under third-year coach Allison Guth, the Ramblers are poised for their best season ever. After six wins, followed by 15 wins, I see the Ramblers surpassing the team record of 18 wins.
Find out what's happening in Chicagofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Coach Guth continues to impress me. After every home game, she takes the mic and thanks the crowd. Ever-positive, she is also honest. After jumping to a huge lead, the Ramblers settled for an eight point win. That didn't sit well with Coach Guth. She stated as much in her post-game talk to the crowd. She echoed and expounded on that in the post-game press session.
For the season, the Ramblers are shooting 45.9%, while holding opponents to 39.5%. From three-point land, the Ramblers are shooting 35.2%, while opponents hit 29.5%. The Ramblers lead opponents in pretty much ever statistical category, with rebounds very close at 33.0% for opponents to 31.4% for the 'blers.
Find out what's happening in Chicagofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Individually, Bernard leads the team with 12.0 points per game. She is followed closely by guard Kira Chivers with 11.0 and Emma Theodorsson with 10.0. Theodorsson also leads the team in boards, with an average of 6.2 per game.
The team has six first year players and five fourth/fifth year players. It will be interesting to see how Guth juggles her lineup. She has been great at giving time to rookies, while still relying on her veterans.
Next up is an away game at Eastern Illinois on Saturday, followed by three home games (northwestern, South Carolina State and LaSalle), before going to Western Michigan. I see a 4-1 record in those five games.
Stay tuned. This is going to be a un season.
