BALTIMORE –
Laura Salmerón scored 22 points, and
Kimmie Hicks had 17 Saturday afternoon, and the Loyola University Maryland women's basketball team raced past visiting UNC Asheville for a 67-51 non-conference victory in Reitz Arena.
The Bulldogs cut a 13-8 Greyhounds leads at the end of the first quarter to three, 13-11, 1:20 into the second, but Salmeron scored 13 points during a 15-7 Loyola run that would expand the lead to 28-18 on a transition three by the senior from Barcelona with 3:32 to go in the first half.
Hicks knocked down a three off an
Ally Lovisolo three with just over 20 seconds left in regulation, and it was a 14-point lead, 34-20, for Loyola at the break.
UNCA scored first in the second half, but Hicks and Salmeron drained threes on two of the next three Loyola possessions, and the lead swelled to 40-22 at 7:46 in the third.
The Greyhounds duo did their scoring in efficient manner, making 13 of 20 shots overall and 5 of 8 from behind the 3-point line. Loyola extended its lead to as many as 29 points twice during the fourth quarter.
Loyola shot 49 percent from the field, buoyed by shooting 55 percent in the second and third quarters.
Overall, 10 players scored for the Greyhounds with
Amandine Amorich,
Koi Sims and
Kailey Kalet adding seven, six and five, respectively.
Sims had a team-best seven rebounds, and Kalet led Loyola with three assists.
Loyola posted a season-high 16 steals in the game, its most since January 24 in a win over Lafayette when it matched that number. Hicks and Amorich each had four, and Salmeron finished with three.
The Greyhounds play their next two on the road with a Thanksgiving week trip across the Southern Tier of New York State. St. Bonaventure hosts Loyola on Wednesday, November 27, at 12 noon, and Binghamton welcomes the Greyhounds on Saturday, November 30, at 2 p.m.
Loyola will be back in Reitz Arena on Wednesday, December 4, to play Radford at 11 a.m. in the Greyhounds' annual Field Trip Day. Admission is free to all spectators.
