The Salukis continue with a two-game losing streak in their regular season with a 66-44 home-opener loss to the Loyola Chicago Ramblers at the SIU Arena.

SIU (0-2) started Tuesday’s game off with strong determination as Teri Oliver led the way with 18 points, but the Salukis were unable to keep it going in the second half. The Ramblers (2-0) had a second-half burst that allowed them to walk away with their second-straight win as they led most of the statistical categories.

Freshman guard Cartaesha Macklin stumbles while she dribbles the ball Thursday during the Salukis 44-66 loss to Loyola University Chicago at the SIU Arena. It was home opener for the Salukis, who are 0-2 in the regular season. The Salukis next game is Sunday against Chicago State University at the SIU Arena.

Head coach Missy Tiber said her biggest worry for the game was the Ramblers’ strong defense. She said she was concerned their double-team defense would limit the Salukis’ scoring.

“They took a lot of things that we wanted to do away from us,” Tiber said. “They mixed in some 2-3 zoning that kind of rattled us, and we weren’t shooting the ball the way that we’re capable of shooting it.”

She said she is disappointed in the team’s effort on both ends of the court, but admitted she is at fault.

“I have to demand a little bit more out of these kids,” Tiber said. “Sometimes there’s a fine line when you’re coaching a young team. How hard do you push them? But I just need to start pressing them a little harder.”

Oliver, the team’s starting junior guard, said the problem has remained the same since she’s been at SIU: The team isn’t giving enough effort and still hasn’t played a full 40 minutes.

“We were all hyped when we were warming up, when we saw we were up 22-10 in the first half,” Oliver said. “But for some reason we lost it.”

Starting point guard sophomore Brooke LeMar, who had four points and six turnovers, said the team didn’t do well with turnovers.

“I don’t think we took care of the ball well,” LeMar said. “It just felt like they played harder than us.”

The score was tied at 30 points at halftime. The Salukis had 10 turnovers and shot 30.3 percent from the field, along with 27.3 percent from the three-point range and 87.5 percent from the free-throw line.

Overall, the Salukis accounted for 20 turnovers and 17 personal fouls, and boosted their shooting percentage to 68.8 percent.

The Ramblers (3-0, 0-0 Horizon League) shot 92.3 percent in the first half with seven turnovers. Overall they finished with a shooting percentage of 81.0 percent and out-rebounded the Salukis by two rebounds, for a total of 42.

The Ramblers were led by junior guard Monica Albano, who finished with 23 points and seven rebounds, along with freshman forward Simone Law with 16 points and nine rebounds. Junior guard Patrice King added nine points while sophomore forward Troy Hambric finished with eight points.

Though the Salukis have improved since last season, Tiber said everyone needs the same mindset to win.

“I don’t think that this is the same team as last year, but scoring only 44 points is not going to get things done,” Tiber said. “We need to get more scoring from our guards. If everyone can get on the same page, then we’ll be fine.”

The Salukis host Chicago State University at 2:05 p.m. Saturday at the SIU arena.