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The FGCU women’s basketball team’s March run ended early, but it left hope for future success.
A late fourth-quarter surge led Loyola to a 62-56 win over the Eagles in the second round of the Women's NIT on Monday night, March 23, at Alico Arena. It was an exciting, if disappointing, conclusion to FGCU head coach Raina Harmon’s first season.
That was because the players showed up, literally and figuratively. Even after the first-round exit from the ASUN tournament two and a half weeks ago, the whole team – even the seniors – readily came to practice just in case they got an invitation to a postseason tournament.
“Before the WNIT field was even announced, we had three practices because they all decided, ‘Should we keep playing?’ And they wanted to keep playing,” Harmon said. “And so I said at the end of the day, if we don’t have an opportunity to get better, we got three days better than everybody else for next year, and our seniors had three extra days to be with the program.”
After the invitation and first-round bye, the Eagles (16-16) left it on the court in a game that was tied as late as five minutes left in the fourth quarter.
“We build the endurance, and then when we regroup and talk about next year, we know what it’s like to play deep into March and take it even further,” Harmon said.
After the Eagles won the tip, sophomore Airah Lavy validated Harmon’s decision to put her in the starting lineup by making a three-point bucket from the corner.
“Airah has the ultimate green light,” Harmon said.
Then the Ramblers (16-17) were introduced to FGCU’s full-court press, which caused some frustration in the early going. The perimeter defense closed the gaps and prevented dribble-drives, which forced the Ramblers to take shots with the shot clock running out. When a trap on an inbound led to a Cerina Rolle seal and Jalei Pillow basket that made the score 8-3, Loyola coach Allison Guth called an early time out.
The Ramblers settled in and started a 9-0 run, with 7 of those points scored by grad student guard Alexus Mobley, who led the floor with 27 points. On two straight plays, she got a steal and a fast-break layup, and then capped things off by drawing a foul on a third layup and making the free throw for a three-point play.
Junior Rosalie Mercille made two three-pointers in the remaining minutes, and the Ramblers ended the first quarter up 20-14.
Lavy opened the second quarter with another trey that sparked the Eagles. Sophomore Eve Alexander, who led the team with 16 points, elevated her game with some acrobatic layups. Two of them drew fouls, and she made the ensuing free throws each time.
“You look at Eve’s body of work from the beginning of the season to where she is now, I think she’s the person on the roster that probably has the biggest development in terms of us being able to see it through to fruition from where she started to how she ended,” Harmon said.
Lavy followed with another three, and the Eagles brought the game to the locker room tied at 29.
The third quarter was the most physical, with both teams going into the bonus. Mobley benefited most, opening the period with a three-point play, a jumper, and more layups that drew fouls and netted her 5 made free throws for a total of 10 points. For their part, the Eagles spread the ball around with four players scoring. An Alexander layup gave them a 44-43 lead at the end of the period.
The Ramblers opened the fourth with a 7-0 run until FGCU grad student Maca Retamales came off the bench. She hit a three-pointer, then got fouled on a jumper and made the free throw for her own personal 6-0 run, which tied the game at 50. Mobley retook the lead with a pair of free throws, and Loyola started to pull away.
The beginning of the end came when Loyola senior Kira Chivers hit a three-pointer with 56 seconds left, her only field goal of the game. Loyola coach Allison Guth called a timeout and ran out to the court to give her a big hug.
“I gotta tell you, when you’re struggling scoring - and she was 0-for for the game - and you have enough gumption to take the shot when you have not made a shot in the game,” Guth said. “If you follow Loyola women’s basketball, Kira is good for a fourth-quarter dagger three like that.”
After that, the Eagles committed three turnovers and missed their last four shots.
Guth was intense on the bench during the game, but she was buzzing about the experience afterwards, paying respect to Harmon, former Eagles coach Karl Smesko, and the FGCU program in general.
“This is a place that celebrates women’s basketball and loves it,” Guth said. “And we wanted to honor the game by the way we played, and I just think our team did that tonight.”
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Loyola Chicago eliminates FGCU in 2026 WNIT second round
Continue reading...
A late fourth-quarter surge led Loyola to a 62-56 win over the Eagles in the second round of the Women's NIT on Monday night, March 23, at Alico Arena. It was an exciting, if disappointing, conclusion to FGCU head coach Raina Harmon’s first season.
That was because the players showed up, literally and figuratively. Even after the first-round exit from the ASUN tournament two and a half weeks ago, the whole team – even the seniors – readily came to practice just in case they got an invitation to a postseason tournament.
“Before the WNIT field was even announced, we had three practices because they all decided, ‘Should we keep playing?’ And they wanted to keep playing,” Harmon said. “And so I said at the end of the day, if we don’t have an opportunity to get better, we got three days better than everybody else for next year, and our seniors had three extra days to be with the program.”
After the invitation and first-round bye, the Eagles (16-16) left it on the court in a game that was tied as late as five minutes left in the fourth quarter.
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“We build the endurance, and then when we regroup and talk about next year, we know what it’s like to play deep into March and take it even further,” Harmon said.
After the Eagles won the tip, sophomore Airah Lavy validated Harmon’s decision to put her in the starting lineup by making a three-point bucket from the corner.
“Airah has the ultimate green light,” Harmon said.
Then the Ramblers (16-17) were introduced to FGCU’s full-court press, which caused some frustration in the early going. The perimeter defense closed the gaps and prevented dribble-drives, which forced the Ramblers to take shots with the shot clock running out. When a trap on an inbound led to a Cerina Rolle seal and Jalei Pillow basket that made the score 8-3, Loyola coach Allison Guth called an early time out.
The Ramblers settled in and started a 9-0 run, with 7 of those points scored by grad student guard Alexus Mobley, who led the floor with 27 points. On two straight plays, she got a steal and a fast-break layup, and then capped things off by drawing a foul on a third layup and making the free throw for a three-point play.
Junior Rosalie Mercille made two three-pointers in the remaining minutes, and the Ramblers ended the first quarter up 20-14.
You must be registered for see images attach
Lavy opened the second quarter with another trey that sparked the Eagles. Sophomore Eve Alexander, who led the team with 16 points, elevated her game with some acrobatic layups. Two of them drew fouls, and she made the ensuing free throws each time.
“You look at Eve’s body of work from the beginning of the season to where she is now, I think she’s the person on the roster that probably has the biggest development in terms of us being able to see it through to fruition from where she started to how she ended,” Harmon said.
Lavy followed with another three, and the Eagles brought the game to the locker room tied at 29.
The third quarter was the most physical, with both teams going into the bonus. Mobley benefited most, opening the period with a three-point play, a jumper, and more layups that drew fouls and netted her 5 made free throws for a total of 10 points. For their part, the Eagles spread the ball around with four players scoring. An Alexander layup gave them a 44-43 lead at the end of the period.
The Ramblers opened the fourth with a 7-0 run until FGCU grad student Maca Retamales came off the bench. She hit a three-pointer, then got fouled on a jumper and made the free throw for her own personal 6-0 run, which tied the game at 50. Mobley retook the lead with a pair of free throws, and Loyola started to pull away.
You must be registered for see images attach
The beginning of the end came when Loyola senior Kira Chivers hit a three-pointer with 56 seconds left, her only field goal of the game. Loyola coach Allison Guth called a timeout and ran out to the court to give her a big hug.
“I gotta tell you, when you’re struggling scoring - and she was 0-for for the game - and you have enough gumption to take the shot when you have not made a shot in the game,” Guth said. “If you follow Loyola women’s basketball, Kira is good for a fourth-quarter dagger three like that.”
After that, the Eagles committed three turnovers and missed their last four shots.
Guth was intense on the bench during the game, but she was buzzing about the experience afterwards, paying respect to Harmon, former Eagles coach Karl Smesko, and the FGCU program in general.
“This is a place that celebrates women’s basketball and loves it,” Guth said. “And we wanted to honor the game by the way we played, and I just think our team did that tonight.”
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Loyola Chicago eliminates FGCU in 2026 WNIT second round
Continue reading...
