Girls Basketball: Loyola’s defense holds down St Francis

Updated: December 22, 2011 11:12PM

St. Francis of Wheaton scored 18 points in an opening night loss. But since then the team’s offense has stepped up. That is until Thursday night at Lake Zurich.

Give some credit it to Loyola’s defense. St. Francis was blanked in the fourth quarter as Loyola won it’s 11th game of the season 48-17 in the Suburban Holiday Classic.

Now Loyola coach Jeremy Schoenecker wasn’t exactly jumping for joy after this victory. His club certainly played well enough to win but did exactly excite their coach.

“It was an average game for us,’’ Schoenecker said. “We had a lot of missed opportunities.”

St. Francis had one lead in this game it came when Alyssa Fernandez (7

points) drilled a three-pointer. It was still a contest late in the first quarter when Abby Winkler drilled in a long two-pointer. And then the St. Francis offense went stone cold. As in 15 straight missed shots.

“At times, we played well on defense and at times they missed shots,’’ Schoenecker said.

Loyola wasn’t exactly lighting the scoreboard up in the first half. However a four-point run by sophomore Colleen McShane opened up some breathing room.

A spinning layup from Lauren Kriz opened up a 19-8 lead.

The Ramblers really opened this game up in the third quarter. Kathleen Stralka (10 points) led the charge. She opened the quarter with two free throws and her three-pointer at the four-minute mark gave Loyola a 29-15 lead. Freshman Sarah Elston beat the third quarter clock with a layup and the Ramblers were in control at 38-17.

Also helping Loyola’s scoring on this night were Anna Schueler (6 points),

Mary Katherine O’Malley (6 points) and Michelle Ricolcol (5 points).

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