HENRICO, Va. – The St. Bonaventure University women's basketball team fell to Loyola Chicago, 61-59, Thursday afternoon in the second round of the 2026 Atlantic 10 Tournament.
Aaliyah Parker scored a game-high 16 points to go along with five rebounds and a pair of assists. Laycee Drake finished with a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double to go with five assists.
The Ramblers came out of the gate firing, making six out of their first eight attempts from the floor to take a 14-8 lead over the Bonnies at the first-quarter media timeout.
The Bonnies, however, were able to go on a 12-0 run capped off by back-to-back threes from Kaylee Krysztof to take an 18-14 lead.
Neither team was able to pull away in the second.
Loyola Chicago pulled ahead by two, 31-29, with under 30 seconds remaining in the first half before Parker converted on a 3-pointer at the buzzer, giving the Bonnies a one-point halftime lead.
The Ramblers opened the second half with a 9-2 run to retake the lead from the Bonnies, 42-36.
Alexa Kinas put Loyola Chicago up by five midway through the third, but Elyse MacDonough answered with a three of her own to cut the Bonnies deficit back to two, 45-43, with 4:36 left to play in the third.
Alex-Anne Besette pushed the Ramblers ahead by five with a deep three, but the Bonnies were able to outscore Loyola Chicago, 7-2, over the final 3:39 of the third, tying the game at 50-50 headed into the fourth.
The Bonnies pulled ahead by five, 59-54, following a Laycee Drake jumper.
Loyola, however, ended the game on a 7-0 run to pull back ahead, 61-59.
The Bonnies had a look to win in the final seconds but the shot did not fall as the Ramblers secured the win.
GAME NOTES
- The Bonnies finished the game shooting 39.3 percent (22-for-56) from the field.
- Bona's committed just seven turnovers in Thursday's game.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH JIM CROWLEY
"Credit to Loyola. They've gotten us three times and kind of did it in a different way each time. I thought we gave ourselves a really good chance late. They made a couple big shots and we just couldn't get a couple that we needed to drop to drop. Really proud of our group and really proud of the way they competed. Hopefully we'll get another chance, but this has been as much fun as I've had coaching a group in a long time. I'm just really proud of how they've represented the program and the university."
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