Borot’s 17 points not enough in LC loss to #22 Loyola 

NEW ORLEANS – The Louisiana Christian University women’s basketball team got a season-high 17 points from Claire Borot, but #22 Loyola proved too powerful for the Wildcats in an 87-53 loss to the Wolf Pack on Saturday afternoon at the Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse on the campus of Tulane University.

The Wildcats held tight with the Wolf Pack throughout the opening minutes, even taking the lead at one point as a bucket by Paula Ferrer Nolla gave LCU a 9-7 advantage with just more than five minutes remaining in the first quarter.

However, an 8-0 Loyola run immediately followed which gave the Wolf Pack the lead for good. A Kieyoomia Benally jumper with just less than a minute left in the period pulled LCU back within one point at 15-14. Loyola scored before period’s end to make it 17-14 heading into the second quarter.

Miya McKinney opened the second quarter with a bucket to pull the Wildcats back within a single point. LCU continued to hang close as a Claire Borot jumper with less than 6:30 left made it a three-point game at 23-20 Loyola. But that’s where the Wolf Pack pulled away for the first time as back-to-back threes started another 8-0 Loyola run that gave the Wolf Pack its first double-digit lead of the game. That eight-point push was part of a larger 16-5 Loyola run that gave the Wolf Pack their largest lead of the first half at 39-25 before another jumper by Kieyoomia Benally ended that run. LCU trailed 43-30 at halftime.

Loyola extended the lead to start the third quarter, scoring the first four points of the period. However, the Wildcats made a run to get back into the game as a three-pointer by Paola Abad Prieto started a 12-2 LCU run. That run was capped by a pair of Miya McKinney free throws with 5:19 left in the quarter that made the score 49-42 Loyola. But that would be as close as LCU would get the rest of the way as the Wolf Pack finished the quarter on a 16-4 run to open the lead up to 19 points, the largest of the game at that moment. The fourth quarter was all Wolf Pack as the Wildcats went ice cold and Loyola pulled away over the final ten minutes.

Claire Borot scored a season-high 17 points for game-high scoring honors. She did so on another season-high of six made field goals, a season-high four of which came from above the three-point arc. Borot also grabbed four rebounds and was credited with three assists. Miya McKinney was LCU’s lone other double-figure scorer with ten points while also leading the team with seven rebounds. The Wildcats struggled shooting in the contest, hitting on just 30.8% from the field as a team and 22.2% from long range.

The Wildcats (3-3) are back in action at home next Saturday, December 4th, as William Carey comes to town for a women’s/men’s doubleheader. Tip-off of the women’s contest against the Crusaders (3-1) is set for 1:00 P.M. at H.O. West Fieldhouse.