There’s been a long-standing ideology in sports that the concept of chemistry is infinitely important to the success of a team.

Perhaps that may be the case with NIU women’s basketball (0-1), as its struggled to come together as a cohesive unit and lost to Loyola Sunday 73-42.

“I don’t think our intensity level was not where it needed to be today,” said NIU sophomore guard Ashley Sneed. “We need to come out and be the aggressor offensively and defensively, as well as stay within ourselves and within our system.”

As there is definitely an intangible factor of chemistry, NIU head women’s basketball coach Kathi Bennett pinpointed something else.

“Honestly we need to learn how to compete,” Bennett said. “That’s going to be our first step towards getting better. We don’t know what it takes as far as how hard we have to play. We have to break that and get back to competing.”

Sneed led the Huskies in points, converting five of 12 field goal attempts, adding a perfect 2-2 in free throws for a total of 12 points.

Sneed was the only Huskie in double-figure scoring, while Loyola had three players in double digits.

For Sneed, her point total, minutes played, field goals made and field goals attempted were all career-highs.

“It was cool,” Sneed said. “It really didn’t matter, though, because I really wanted to win. Stats don’t concern me, just the outcome.”

Leading the way for the Ramblers was junior guard Monica Albano. Albano scored a game-high 21 points, sinking three out of five three-point attempts, snatching seven rebound and dishing out six assists.

Overall, Loyola led in nearly every category, shooting 52 percent from the field compared to 25 percent for the Huskies.

The Ramblers also blocked nine shots and converted on 23 points from turnovers.

One of the most glaring issues, however, is the assist total. NIU only had eight assists while Loyola had 18.

“We don’t play well together,” Bennett said. “We have certain individuals doing it, but it’s a learning process. We need more on court leadership, in terms of being fiery and carrying over how we practice into the game-play situation.”

Having it be the first game of the season gives the team lots of room for improvement, but there seems to be a lot that needs improving upon.

“Yeah, we have to get that going (the defense),” Bennett said. “We need to see carry over from practice to the game, the attention to detail. We weren’t playing with any semblance of what we practiced.”

NIU will come home for its next three games.