Brooklyn Vaughn's Buzzer-Beater Sinks Wright State 73-71 at Loyola Chicago After Raiders Blow 17-Point Lead

CHICAGO. For one quarter, Wright State played about as well as a team can play on opening night. The Raiders made 11 of their first 15 shots, the first five baskets came from five different players, and they walked off the floor after 10 minutes up 28-11 at Gentile Arena.

Then the shots stopped falling, Loyola Chicago kept coming, and the night ended with Brooklyn Vaughn catching a pass under the basket and laying it in as the horn sounded. Loyola won 73-71 on Tuesday, Nov. 3, handing the Raiders a painful loss in the opener.

Redshirt junior Rylee Sagester led Wright State with 18 points on 7 of 9 shooting. Sophomore Allie Daniels added 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench, and sophomore Jayden Terry, playing her first game for the Raiders, set a career high with seven steals.

Here is the official box score (opens in a new tab), Wright State's recap (opens in a new tab) and Loyola Chicago's recap (opens in a new tab).

A perfect start

The first quarter was a clinic in ball movement. Five different Raiders scored the team's first five baskets, and Wright State shot 73.3 percent in the period. Only one of the Raiders' four first-quarter misses came from inside the arc, according to Wright State. They made 2 of 5 from 3, got to the line five times, and turned Loyola mistakes into seven points.

Wright State's bench was a big part of it. The reserves, led by Daniels and sophomore Elaina Rager, scored 14 points in the first quarter alone, and the Raiders' defense held the Ramblers to 4 of 15 shooting.

The second quarter collapse

The second quarter could not have gone more differently. Wright State made 1 of 13 shots from the field and scored four points in 10 minutes. Loyola cut the lead to 32-21, then ripped off an 11-0 run that ended with a 3 from senior Rosalie Mercille to tie the game at 32 at halftime.

The Ramblers made three 3s in the period, accounting for nine of their 21 points. For a team that had looked overmatched 10 minutes earlier, it was a complete reset.

Loyola carried that into the third quarter. MD Ntambue scored the first basket of the half to give the Ramblers their first lead of the night at 34-32, and a 6-0 run capped by Vaughn made it 40-34 with 6:24 left in the period.

The Raiders punch back

Wright State's answer was to attack the rim. The Raiders scored 16 of their 19 third-quarter points in the paint and finished the period on a push that gave them a 51-48 lead going into the fourth. Sagester was the engine, scoring efficiently all night and making 2 of 3 from deep.

Loyola responded right away. The Ramblers opened the fourth quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 57-51 lead with 8:09 left, and the final eight minutes became a possession by possession fight.

Wright State did not miss a 3 in the fourth quarter, with Sagester knocking one down late to keep the Raiders in range. Vaughn made two free throws with 1:22 left to put Loyola up 68-63, and Sagester answered at the line with 1:03 left, making both to cut it to 68-65. Vaughn missed a jumper on the other end, Loyola's Gabby Wilke grabbed the offensive rebound but missed a layup, and Daniels pulled down the miss.

Sophomore Megan Campbell then hit a 3 off an Olivia Brown assist with 30 seconds left to tie the game at 68.

The final 30 seconds

Out of a timeout, Loyola went to Vaughn, who scored on a layup assisted by Ntambue with 17 seconds left for a 70-68 lead. Ntambue fouled Brown on the other end with 12 seconds to go. Brown missed the first free throw and made the second, making it 70-69.

Terry fouled Mireia Jurado with 12 seconds still on the clock, and Jurado also split her two free throws for a 71-69 lead. Terry then drove for a layup with three seconds left to tie it at 71, completing a strong debut and seemingly sending the game to overtime.

Loyola called timeout with two seconds left. Jurado threw the inbounds pass to Vaughn under the basket, and the layup beat the horn.

"I'm so happy for our team; we executed," Loyola head coach Morgan Paige said. "We've been talking about it all week: 'Can we finish plays with boxouts, can we execute the game plan when we get into crunch time?'"

Breaking down the Raiders

Sagester's 18 points came on 7 of 9 shooting from the field, 2 of 3 from 3 and 2 of 2 at the line in 33 minutes. Daniels matched her shooting line, going 7 of 9 in 27 minutes off the bench, and led Wright State with seven rebounds.

Terry's debut was the most interesting box score line of the night. She finished with 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and seven steals in 33 minutes, though she also had five turnovers. Rager made all six of her free throws on the way to 10 points off the bench. Campbell had only three points, but her late 3 was the biggest shot Wright State made all night.

As a team, the Raiders shot 47.4 percent from the field and scored 40 points in the paint, 57 percent of their total, according to Wright State. They forced 18 turnovers and had 10 steals, and their bench outscored Loyola's 28-17.

How Loyola won it

The Ramblers won the game on the glass and at the free throw line. Loyola outrebounded Wright State 37-28, including 12 offensive rebounds, and freshman Gemma Wichmann grabbed a game-high 10 boards in only 13 minutes. Loyola also made 18 of 25 free throws, while Wright State went 13 of 19.

That five-point difference at the stripe is the whole margin and then some in a two-point game. So is the second quarter, when Loyola outscored Wright State 21-4.

Vaughn finished with 18 points and eight rebounds on 8 of 13 shooting. Jurado had a career-high 14 points and four assists, and Ntambue matched her with a career-high 14 on 5 of 6 shooting. Kendall Hendrix added career highs of nine points and four steals and matched her best with four assists.

What it means

The loss stings because Wright State did so much right. It shared the ball, it forced turnovers, and it had a 17-point lead and a tied game in the final seconds. The issues were clear too. A 1 for 13 quarter will lose a lot of games, and so will giving up a dozen offensive rebounds.

The good news for the Raiders is that the pieces are there. Terry looks like a disruptive defender from day one, Sagester can be a reliable scorer, and the bench has real punch. Every one of the eight Raiders who played logged at least 16 minutes, a sign of how deep the rotation could be this season.

Wright State fell to 0-1 in front of 347 fans in Chicago. The Raiders opened their home schedule three nights later against Ohio Christian. Read our recap of Wright State's 103-25 home-opening win, and our recap of the Raiders' trip to Michigan.

On the men's side, Wright State is off to a strong start. Read about CJ O'Hara's 24 points in a rout of Florida Atlantic and Kellen Pickett's double-double at Toledo. For more, visit our Wright State team page.

Sources: official box score, Wright State Athletics and Loyola Chicago Athletics.

Photo: Wright State Athletics (file photo from Feb. 7, 2026)