KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's basketball team opened up the 2022-23 season falling to Loyola Chicago, 60-51, at University Arena on Monday night.
 
Taylor Williams led the Broncos (0-1) with 21 points on 10-for-15 shooting and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Lauren Ross had 16 points on 7-for-13 shooting. As a team the Broncos shot 44.9 percent (22-for-49) but finished just 2-for 16 from the three-point line. Maya Chandler led the Ramblers with 14 points. Loyola Chicago shot 62.2 percent from the field (23-for-37), including 6-for-10 from three-point land.
 
WMU got off to a slow start, shooting just 29.2 percent combined from the field in the first half, going into the locker room trailing 31-16.
 
After scoring just four points in the first half, Williams took over in the third quarter to cut into Loyola Chicago's lead. She went five-for-six from the field and scored 11 points to get the Broncos within nine heading into the fourth quarter.
 
The Broncos opened the fourth with a 6-0 run thanks to a pair of scores by Williams and a layup on the fast break by Williams, cutting the lead to 43-40. The Ramblers built back a six-point buffer after a layup by Chandler with 4:41 left to play. A triple by Anna Brown pushed the lead to 51-42 before Maddie Watters added one of her own to cut it back down to six. But the Ranblers responded with another three to open the game back up with 2:42 to play. A free throw by Hannah Spitzley and a jumper by Ross cut the lead to six, 54-48, but the Ramblers sunk another three-pointer with 1:08 to play to push the lead back to nine. WMU was forced to foul with time running out but was unable to catch back up.
 
Western Michigan head on the road to take on Michigan State on Sunday at 3 p.m.