LEWISTON —  

The way Baltimore Loyola women’s basketball coach Joe Logan tells it, the only reason he comes to the games is that they save him a good seat.

            That crushing, intense press which propelled the Greyhounds out of the gate in Sunday’s 68-48 victory (much closer, really) over Niagara in the Gallagher Center?

            Logan: “We’ve done that only the last few games. The kids like it to run around so I let ‘em. It helps them forget their pains.”

            And those two textbook backdoor layups with which Alyssa Sutherland pushed the Eagles all the way back down the mountain with six minutes to play?

            Logan: “Alyssa came over during the time out and said, ‘Y’know, I think I see something, I think I can get open.’ So, I wish I could say it was my idea, but it was hers.”

            Momentum took the day off on Monteagle Ridge. After Friday’s impressive roundup of Rider, Coach Kendra Faustin’s young squad seemed on the verge of its first two-game win streak in two years, and first-ever sweep of Loyola.

            “We were passive,” she said. “We didn’t get the ball to Lauren (Gatto). We didn’t pursue. The things we wanted to do, we did none of that. We deserved the result.”

            Not exactly.

            Down 12-2, then 24-11, then 47-37 with 10 minutes to play, Niagara clawed back. Kayla Stroman dealt 3’s to Chanel Johnson and Meghan McGuinness, and when Shy Britton fed Gatto for two with 6:51 left, it was 47-45, a one-possession game for the first time since the second minute.

            Loyola airballed but held possession on a footballish bounce. Greyhound Kara Marshall, on a career day, hit for three. Britton and Gatto clicked again, Gatto assisting this time, leaving the spread at 50-47.

            Then came the give-and-goes to Sutherland, the second drawing a foul, five points in 44 seconds. Katie Sheahin sank a free throw. Marshall bombed from NBA range. Down a dozen, Niagara shot desperation blanks while Loyola scored 16 straight.

            Pressing hard with a thin squad – not one field goal from the bench – Loyola had seemed the more likely to fold in the furnace of the final minutes. Said Logan, “We feed ‘em well.” So give the chef an assist, too.

            BY THE NUMBERS: Of Loyola’s 21 field goals, 18 were assisted; Niagara also had only three unassisted goals, 14 of 17 … Niagara committed just two fouls in the first half but both teams were in the bonus eight minutes after the break…Until Sutherland’s deft deuces, it was Marshall who kept the Eagles at claw’s length, 22 points, 5-8 threes; her season percentage was .383…Only Stroman (10) double-figured for Niagara… Next for Niagara (4-6 MAAC), at St. Peter’s on Groundhog Day, Canisius here Saturday at 6… Niagara’s anthem singer, who started in a difficult key, achieved every note in spine-tingling rendition. NFL, listen up.