KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan women's basketball team dropped its afternoon contest against Loyola University Chicago 57-46 on Saturday. In the loss, junior Alli Carlson scored a career and game high 16 points, while graduate student Hannah Spitzley supplied a game high four steals for the Brown and Gold.
In the first, The Brown and Gold limited Loyola to seven points after holding the Ramblers to a quarter-low 17.65% from the field offensively. WMU would take advantage of their defensive success and raced off to an 8-2 lead within the game's first five minutes Saturday. The Broncos saw their largest lead in the first at 13-4 with three minutes to go in the quarter, after scoring on four consecutive offensive possessions.
Despite WMU's advantage, Loyola would use an 11-0 run over the next five and a half minutes to take a 15-13 lead over the Brown and Gold with 7:40 remaining in the second frame. In the final three minutes of the first half, WMU would rally back and use a 7-2 run to tie up the game at 23 all entering the break.
With 7:06 remaining in the third quarter, the Broncos took the lead at 28-26 behind a layup from junior Marina Asensio. After both teams battled for a sizable advantage, Loyola caught fire and outscored the Broncos 10-5 over the final four minutes of the third. In turn, WMU faced a 42-38 deficit entering the fourth quarter.
In the final quarter, the Ramblers limited The Brown and Gold to a total of eight points. With 5:54 remaining in the contest, Carlson cut into Loyola's lead after knocking down a pair of free throws to pull the Broncos within six of the Ramblers.
Historical Notes
Spitzley improved her steals total to 145 after recording back-to-back outings with four swipes for the first time in her career. The graduate student currently holds the 15th most steals recorded all-time in program history.
Up Next
The Brown and Gold will host Prairie View A&M University on Tuesday, December 17, at 7:00 PM on ESPN+. For tickets visit wmubroncos.evenue.net/list/WB.
