No. 19 Loyola wins program-best 17th straight Thursday

MOBILE, Ala. – The Loyola University New Orleans women's basketball team used a good start to Thursday's Southern States Athletic Conference matchup with the University of Mobile to earn its 17th straight win. The 19th-ranked Wolf Pack set a new program-best winning streak mark with an 88-44 over the Rams. 
 

Loyola is now 21-2 overall and 13-1 in SSAC play, and its next opponent is Faulkner on Saturday at 12 p.m. The Wolf Pack maintains a two-game lead in the SSAC standings with three league games to go in the regular season. 
 

The Wolf Pack outscored Mobile 19-7 in the opening frame, led by seven points from Alissa O'Dell and five from Chandler Caver. Loyola shot 6-for-10 from the field while the Rams were 2-of-10 with three turnovers. The Pack shot even better in the second quarter, making eight of their 11 shots, including 2-of-4 from the 3-point line, to lead 47-23 at the break. O'Dell added 10 more points to bring her first-half total to 17, and Deniya Thornton started to get hot with six second-quarter points. 
 

There wasn't much drama in the second half either. O'Dell and Thornton both had six points in the third quarter to help push Loyola's lead to 62-33 with 10 minutes left in the contest. The Wolf Pack's defense held Mobile to another bad shooting frame, as the hosts went 3-for-14 to fall deeper into a hole. Taylor Smith, Tiarra McPipe, and Tiana Smith combined to score 19 of Loyola's 26 fourth-quarter points to put the game away. 
 

Pack Facts

• The Wolf Pack women's basketball team has set the program record for longest winning streak. Loyola has now won 17 games in a row, dating back to a November 25 win against Dillard. 

• The Pack's 44-point win over the Rams was the team's third-largest margin of victory in a game this season. It's also the second time this year in which Loyola's women's team has beaten Mobile by 40 or more. 

• Alissa O'Dell led the game in scoring with 25 points on 9-of-13 from the field, also grabbing a team-high five rebounds. 

• Deniya Thornton was second in scoring with 12 points on just six shots, adding two blocks and a steal on the defensive end. 

• Thornton now has 69 blocks in her Wolf Pack career, putting her fifth on Loyola women's basketball's all-time blocks list. 

• Tierra McPipe scored 10 points on Thursday, converting all eight of her free throw attempts. 

• Off the bench, Tiana Smith put up eight points in just seven minutes. Taylor Smith made all three of her shots from the field, including a three, for seven points. 

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