BALTIMORE - The
Canisius College women's basketball team fell trailed by 19 points with 11
minutes remaining, and its second-half comeback attempt ran out of time as the
Golden Griffins lost 70-62 at Loyola University in Reitz Arena on Thursday
night. The Golden Griffins fall to 10-12 overall and 4-7 in the Metro Atlantic
Athletic Conference
Sophomore
Jamie Ruttle had a career-high 24
points, going 10-for-12 from the field. Sophomore Jen Morabito had 16 points, going 4-for-6 from behind the arc.
Junior Ashley Durham had 13 points
on the evening.
"It's
almost impossible to come back after we continue to have these slow starts.
Against a team like Loyola, you have to play nearly perfectly to come back as
they are a good team and play at their tempo," Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. "Once we started
playing with a purpose and taking care of the basketball, we were successful in
doing what we wanted to do."
Loyola
(9-13, 5-6 MAAC) jumped out to a quick 12-2 lead just over five minutes into
the game, knocking down its first two 3-pointers en route to the early 10-point
lead. Canisius would trail by as many as 15 points in the first half as the
Griffs turned the ball over 11 times in the first 15 minutes. Canisius held
Loyola to five points in the final five minutes of the opening half, but the
Griffs trailed 33-21 at halftime.
The
Greyhounds pushed their lead to as many as 19 points, going up 49-30 after a
jumper from Miriam McKenzie. Canisius then scored eight straight points -
getting a three-point play from Ruttle, a 3-pointer from Morabito and a jumper
from sophomore Jen Lennox to cut the
Loyola lead to 11. The Griffs would get within five after a baseline jumper
from Ruttle with 2:21 remaining. On Loyola's next position a Katie Sheahin's
layup just before the shot clock halted the Canisius comeback as the Greyhounds
scored six straight to put the game away.
McKenzie
led Loyola with 22 points as four Greounds reached double figures. Sheahin had
17 points, freshman Kara Marshall had 15 points and Nneka Offodile had 10
points.
Canisius
continues its four-game road stretch on Saturday, when the Golden Griffins play
at rival Niagara University. Tipoff for the Battle of the Bridge contest in the
Gallagher Center is set for 7 p.m.
Notes: Canisius
lost at Loyola for the second consecutive season... The teams split the
regular-season series for the second time in the last three years... Ruttle
scored in double figures for the 16th time in her career against
MAAC opponents... The sophomore made all 10 of her two-point field goal attempts
and is now shooting 57.1 percent on two-point shots since Dec. 18... Morabito
made four 3-pointers for the fifth time this season... Canisius had 17 turnovers
in the game, 11 on its first 22 possessions... Durham made all six of her
free-throw attempts and is now shooting 89.5 percent from the line on the
season... The three offensive rebounds for Canisius were a season low and fewest
since Jan. 14, 1999, when Canisius had three against Fairfield... Canisius shot 50 percent (21-for-42) in the game. It was the second time under Zeh that Canisius shot 50 percent from the field and lost (55.6 percent against St. John's on Nov. 20, 2004 - Zeh's first game as head coach).
