Box Score

CHARLESTON, Ill. - Taylor Manuel poured in a game-high 28 points to lead a group of five Ramblers in double figures as Loyola battled past Eastern Illinois, 86-75, in overtime this evening at Lantz Arena in Charleston, Ill. With the win, the Ramblers move to 1-1 overall on the young season, while the Panthers slip to 1-2.

As it would be the case for most of the night, Loyola relentlessly attacked the basket in the paint early on. Back-to-back buckets from Manuel and a steal and score from Sam Lambrigtsen put the Ramblers up four, 6-2, with less than two minutes gone in the opening quarter. The hosts answered back, taking off on a 12-2 run, the final three of which came on an old-fashioned three-point play by Alece Shumpert, to take a 14-8 lead with 1:30 to play. Ryaen Johnson and Dakota Vann each knocked down a pair of free throws before time ran out to trim the deficit to 14-12 at the end of one quarter.

Much like it did to start the night, the Ramblers came out firing to begin the second quarter. Two fastbreak layups from Taylor Johnson bookended a 7-0 run that vaulted the Ramblers in front by five, 19-14, at the 7:42 mark. Erica Brown converted on a three-point play just over two minutes later to trim the lead down to two, 21-19, but Loyola answered right back, rattling off the game's next six points to increase the lead up to eight, 27-19, with 3:23 to play. Phylicia Johnson split a pair at the line with 25 seconds left to pull the Panthers back to within six, 31-25, before Grace Goodhart beat the buzzer on a long two-point attempt to send the Ramblers into the locker room up by a count of 33-25 at halftime.

Loyola kept its foot on the gas coming out of the break, opening up an 11-point edge, 43-32, on a low-post bucket from Manuel with 6:04 to go. To its credit, Eastern Illinois wouldn't go away as it slowly chipped away at its deficit. Shumpert answered a Goodhart three at the 4:32 mark with a triple of her own on the Panthers' next possession to trim the margin down to seven, 46-39. The shot from distance ignited a 14-2 run that ultimately gave the hosts a 50-48 lead with 12 seconds left. Manuel drove down the lane to score on Loyola's final possession of the third quarter to knot the game up at 50-50 going to the fourth.

Brandi Segars and Manuel each converted on layups to begin the crucial quarter, giving Loyola a 54-50 lead with 8:21 to go. That would prove to be the largest lead that either team would hold in a final frame of regulation that featured a trio of ties. Threes from Grace Lennox and Shakita Cox were answered by Goodhart's second triple of the night to put Loyola back up one, 57-56, at the 5:55 mark. The two in-state foes continued to trade the lead before a corner three from Shumpert gave the Panthers a 63-61 lead with 2:26 remaining. Brown's jumper with 44 seconds to go gave the Panthers a three-point lead, 68-65, and set up a pivotal final sequence.

Cox came away with a steal on Loyola's ensuing possession after the Brown make but Johnson came up with a takeaway of her own to keep the Ramblers' hopes alive. Lambrigtsen pulled up for a three with only 5.3 seconds remaining that clanged off the iron but not before Lennox was whistled for a foul on the attempt. The sophomore stepped up and calmly drained all three shots from the charity stripe to tie the game at 68 all. Loyola's defense stepped up on Eastern Illinois' final possession of regulation, not allowing the Panthers a shot, to send the game into overtime.

After finding itself in a tight battle for the opening minutes of the extra session, Loyola took control of the game and never looked back. Johnson's final steal of the night set up another fastbreak score for the redshirt junior, which gave the Ramblers a 74-72 lead with 2:27 to go. Manuel drained a fade away jumper on Loyola' next trip down the floor to make it 76-72 at the 1:40 mark. Halle Stull buried a three to bring Eastern Illinois back to within one, 76-75, seconds later but Dakota Vann answered with a deep ball of her own to bump the lead back up to four, 79-75, with just over a minute to play. The Ramblers were able to close the game out from the charity stripe from that point on en route to their first victory of the 2015-16 campaign.

Manuel was fantastic this evening, adding nine rebounds, an assist, a block and two steals to go along with her game-high scoring output. She led a group of five Ramblers to finish in double figures in scoring that also included Johnson (13), Lambrigtsen (13), Goodhart (12) and Vann (10). Johnson was a terror on the defensive end of the floor as she came away with five steals and recorded two blocks, while Vann dished out a team-best six assists in only the second game of her collegiate career. Cox paced the attack for Eastern Illinois with 18 points on the night.

Loyola returns to the friendly confines of Gentile Arena on Saturday to open the home portion of its 2015-16 schedule against the Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Rogers Park.