Lady Rams Clinch Postseason Berth With 72-69 Win

MOBILE, Ala-- The University of Mobile women's basketball team earned a spot in the 2011 SSAC Tournament with a 72-69 win over Loyola University to cap the regular season Saturday.

Mobile (16-10, 6-6) will be the 5th seed out of the West in the tournament that takes place Mar. 3-5 in Rome, GA. The win avenged a 20-point loss at Loyola earlier in the season.

Senior Adrienne Mackay led Mobile with 20 points, Alice Honnery added 17 points and 13 rebounds, Morgan Melancon chipped in 12 points and 6 assists and Leana Tajkov came off the bench to tally 10 points and 7 boards.

Loyola's Jasmine Brewer led all scorers with 22 points, while Keiva Council finished with 19.

Mobile shot 46% from the field and 56% (5-9) from the free throw line, while Loyola finished 38% overall and 87% (13-15) from the charity stripe.

The Lady Rams used the opening 20 minutes to build a 40-35 lead, allowing the Wolfpack only one lead in the period. Loyola grabbed that 14-13 lead with 14:15 left, but Mobile answered right back forcing a 17-17 tie. Clinging to a 20-19 lead, the Lady Rams used a 9-2 spurt to build an 8-pt lead, with the run started by three straight buckets from Mackay. Mobile went on to lead by as much as 11 (40-29) in the half, but the Wolfpack whittled it down to 5 at the break.

Mobile started fast in the 2nd half, building a 44-35 lead on a bucket from Honnery with 18:29 to play, but Loyola woke up and went on a 15-2 run to grab a 50-46 advantage. Six points from Jasmine Brewer keyed the run. Mobile recovered and made it 55-55 with 10:24 to play. From there, Mobile used a 12-2 surge to grab a 67-57 lead as Mackay tallied 6 points in the run. The Wolfpack used a 12-2 run of their own to knot it at 69-69 with 1:08 left, but Mobile answered again. Honnery scored the game-winner off a feed from Melancon with 39 seconds left, and then blocked Amy Moody's 3-point attempt at the horn to keep it 72-69 in favor of Mobile.