Tip Off Classic recap: Loyola foils Minneota, Taylor Reiss in second half to win 65-52

#1A rated Minneota and Mankato Loyola were tied 32-32 late in the first half when Lindsey Theuninck stripped the ball from a Viking player and cruised in for a layup to take a 34-32 halftime lead.

The play was prophetic, because it was all the Loyola Crusaders from there. They made 6-of-9 shots to open the second half  while Minneota opened up at 1-for-7. By then Loyola led 46-38, and Minneota never got closer than five the rest of the way. It was 52-57 when Theuninck got another steal and then, later in the same possession, hit a three. Two minutes later the lead was double digits.

Theuninck and Megan Schroeder did most of the damage for Loyola. Theuninck added 20 second half points to 10 in the first half for a total of 30 for the game. Schroeder scored 15 in the first half and finished with 21.

Loyola set out to slow down Minneota’s top scorer Taylor Reiss and had intermittent success. Reiss scored six times in just 9:00 to tie it up at 29. She added just two buckets in the second half as Loyola was largely able to keep the ball out of her hands and to double her when she did receive it down low. She finished with 20 points, but it wasn’t enough.

Mankato Loyola 65, Minneota 52

Score by Half:
Mankato Loyola 34-31—65
Minneota 32-20—52

Loyola: Schroeder 26, Theuninck 30, Dose 4, Haugum 3, Gaspar 1, Archer 1.

Minneota: Josephson 5, Steinessen 13, Reiss 22, Pavek 4, L. Jerzak 2, Maeyaert 2, M. Jerzak 4.

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