BALTIMORE –
Lex Therien drove the right side of the lane and converted a right-handed layup with 1:56 left in regulation gave Loyola University Maryland the lead, and her putback with six seconds left secured a 77-73 victory for the Greyhounds over Binghamton University in Reitz Arena.
Therien drew contact on the first basket and made an ensuing free throw to flip a one-point deficit to a 75-73 advantage for the Greyhounds.
Loyola (1-1 overall) then turned the Bearcats over as Elena Delicado drove but threw a pass out of bounds after
Ava Therien's off-ball hedge cut off her drive to the basket.
The Greyhounds misfired on their ensuing 3-point attempt with 1:13 on the clock. Binghamton's Denai Bowman missed a step-back jumper with 50 ticks left, and after an offensive rebound, the Bearcats had another turnover.
Loyola called timeout and ran down the majority of the shot clock before
Kelly Ratigan got down the right side of the lane. Her shot was offline, but it fell right to
Lex Therien who laid it off the glass with 6.7 seconds left.
Binghamton advanced the ball with a timeout, but Bowman was whistled for a double dribble, and Loyola ran out the clock for the win.
Therien finished with 22 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Ratigan added a career-best 17 points, making 5 of 7 from behind the arc.
Laura Salmerón had nine points, and
Meliah Van-Otoo scored eight to go with a game-high four assists.
Loyola led 32-27 at halftime, but Binghamton, and a Therien hook shot stretched the advantage to nine, 36-27, 40 seconds in. The Bearcats, however, went on a 10-0 run to grab the lead at 37-36 with two Camryn Fauria free throws.
Salmerón put Loyola back in front, 42-41, with a layup, but a Fauria pull-up jumper at 2:19 gave Binghamton a four-point advantage, 48-44.
The Bearcats led by five on six occasions in the fourth quarter, the last time coming on a step-back jumper by Ella Wanzer to make it 71-66 with 4:13 on the clock. Wanzer finished with a game-high 36 points.
Ratigan drained a three with 3:19 left, and the Binghamton lead was two, but Kendall Bennett pushed it back to 73-69 with a jumper for the Bearcats.
The Greyhounds answered again with a Ratigan three at 2:36 to trim the deficit to one before Therien's go-ahead layup.
Loyola will be back in action on Wednesday, November 15, with a 7 p.m. game at UMBC.
