CHICAGO – Senior guard Jasmin Dixon (Detroit, MI/Martin Luther King) (Detroit, Mich.) tallied her 1,000th career point en route to posting a game-high 25 points, but host Chicago State (1-3) fell to Loyola (1-1), 74-59, in a Chicago-area battle today at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center.
Loyola opened the game with an 11-6 run in the first seven minutes of the game with eight points coming from junior Elyse VanBogaert. CSU used three pointers from freshman Jael Peña (Harlem, N.Y.) and junior Alyssa Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) (Sun Prairie, Wis.) in less than 30 seconds to claim a slim 12-11 leading margin with 12:22 remaining in the first half. Both teams then battled through three ties and two lead changes in a stretch that lasted three-plus minutes, while Dixon recorded her 1,000th career point on a jumper at the 10:04 mark. The Ramblers later scored 14 of the half's final 20 points which turned a 22-21 deficit at the 5:52 mark into a 35-28 advantage heading into intermission.
The home team kicked off the second half by tallying 14 of the stanza's first 23 points over 8:11 to pull within 44-42 on a Dixon jumper at the 11:49 mark. A quick 12-6 scoring drive in 3:32 helped Loyola increase its advantage to 54-46 on a jumper from junior Keisha Collins at 8:17. The Cougars closed to within three at 54-51 on a three-pointer from sophomore Courtney Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) (Sun Prairie, Wis.) and a layup from Dixon just a minute later, but a layup from junior Jessica Hylton opened a 20-8 run over the last seven minutes for the game's final margin.
Alyssa Waldon (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie) added 11 points and a game-high four steals for CSU, while Peña finished with nine points. Sophomore Elana Wroten (Chicago, IL/Morgan Park) (Chicago, Ill.) posted eight rebounds and a game-high two blocks to go along with six points.
VanBogaert paced Loyola with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. Hylton finished with 15 points, six rebounds and two steals, while Collins added 13 points and six boards.
Chicago State travels to Akron, Ohio on Monday, Nov. 24 to take on the host Zips at James A. Rhodes Arena with the tip-off set for 6 p.m.
~ CSU ~
