CHICAGO – After a thrilling victory against Chicago State last outing, the Loyola University Chicago women’s basketball squad aims for its third consecutive win this Saturday (Dec. 21). The Ramblers are set to face former Missouri Valley Conference rival, Evansville, with the contest being streamed live on ESPN+. Sam Brief (play by play) and Stephond Robinson (commentary) will deliver the live coverage.
QUICK HITS
- Aiming to conclude the non-conference season with a win, Loyola Chicago hosts its former MVC counterpart at Gentile Arena.
- LUC is currently on a two-game winning streak, having triumphed over Western Michigan, 57-46, on Dec. 7 and Chicago State, 70-68, this past Tuesday.
- Loyola Chicago’s victory against the Cougars featured exceptional performances: Naelle Bernard scored a career-high 24 points, Sitori Tanin registered a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds (season-high), and Jess Finney contributed 18 points.
- Bernard’s 24 points marked LUC’s first 20-point scoring outing of the season and her third overall. Similarly, Tanin’s double-digit rebounding effort was a first for LUC this year.
- Tanin became the 30th Rambler in program history to surpass 1,000 career points during LUC’s defeat against La Salle on Dec. 3.
- Loyola Chicago controlled the boards, out-rebounding their opponents 38-34. The Ramblers’ 38 rebounds were the third-highest for a single game this season.
- The Ramblers have out-rebounded their opponents in five matches and maintain an average of 32.3 rebounds per game.
- The Maroon and Gold have the fourth-best field goal percentage in the Atlantic 10 at 42 percent. In addition, Loyola excels in perimeter defense, limiting opponents to a mere 27 percent from three-point range, which ranks as the second-best in the A-10.
- Kira Chivers remains one of the premier assist distributors in the league, sitting ninth in total assists (36) and 10th in assists per game (3.6).
- After Saturday, Loyola will have a break for Christmas before conference play resumes on Sunday, Dec. 29, at home against St. Bonaventure.
RAMBLER BITES
- Five returning letterwinners, including two starters, are back on the roster. The Ramblers welcome 10 newcomers, comprising six freshmen and four transfers.
- Head coach Allison Guth enters her third season leading Loyola. The 2024-25 season marks her ninth year as a head coach after spending the initial six seasons at Yale.
- Loyola Chicago’s nine-win growth from 2022-23 to 2023-24 represents the second-best turnaround in the Atlantic 10.
- The Ramblers appointed returnees Sitori Tanin, Thoranna Kika Hodge-Carr, and Kira Chivers as team captains for the 2024-25 season.
- A trio of Ramblers from 2023-24 secured professional contracts overseas this past summer: Emma Nolan (Bad Homburg, Germany), Sophia Nolan (Dillingen Diamonds, Germany), and Sam Galanopoulos (Esperides Kallitheas, Greece). With this, there are now seven former Ramblers engaged in professional basketball.
SCOUTING THE EVANSVILLE ACES
- Head Coach Robyn Scherr is in her fourth year at Evansville, holding a record of 27-75 (.265).
- This season, Evansville has an overall record of 4-6 and has yet to participate in an MVC game.
- The Aces were projected to place last in the MVC Preseason Coaches’ Poll but currently hold the No. 9 position in the league.
- The team has two standout scorers in The Valley, Camryn Runner and Maggie Hartwig. Runner averages 18.0 points per game, ranking second in the conference, while Hartwig is close behind in third with 17.5 points per game.
ALL-TIME AGAINST EVANSVILLE
- Loyola Chicago and Evansville were co-members of the Missouri Valley Conference from 2013 to 2022.
- The Ramblers are on an 11-game winning streak against Evansville, dating back to Jan. 28, 2018.
- Loyola Chicago leads the historical series, 26-12.
- In the latest encounter on Feb. 20, 2022, LUC secured a 60-56 victory in Evansville.
- Allison Day tallied 11 of her team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter.
- Sitori Tanin led the bench unit with four points and five rebounds in 16 minutes played.
LAST TIME OUT
Naelle Bernard’s career-high 24 points combined with Sitori Tanin’s double-double propelled Loyola to a 70-68 overtime victory on Tuesday at Gentile Arena. The Ramblers’ win was particularly memorable as the program celebrated its annual Field Trip Day, hosting 3,455 children and fans from the Chicago area for the event.
ATLANTIC 10 PRESEASON POLL
The reigning champions, Richmond Spiders, were voted as the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball 2024-25 season favorites in the league’s annual Preseason Poll. Saint Joseph’s was selected second in the poll with 211 points and four first-place votes. Following a record-setting 2023-24 season, where they achieved a 15-3 record in the Atlantic 10 and totaled 23 wins, George Mason, with 188 votes, rounded out the top-3.
RETURNING RAMBLERS
- Graduate student Sitori Tanin, standing at 6 feet 2 inches, returns to Loyola. Tanin amassed 45 blocks (1.5 per game) last season, leading the team and ranking No. 4 in the A-10. She recorded at least one block in 23 games, with a career-high of five against Saint Joseph’s on Jan. 31.
- Graduate student guard Thoranna Kika Hodge-Carr is eager to continue from where she left off in 2023-24. The Keflavik, Iceland, native averaged 5.6 points per game last season, placing fifth on the team. She also contributed 3.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, ranking third and fourth on the team, respectively.
- Kira Chivers, who put up 19.0 minutes and 3.5 points per game—ranking sixth and seventh on the team, respectively—is set to make her mark this season. The Chicago native converted 33-of-96 shots from the field for a 34-percent success rate and went 19-of-46 (41-percent) from beyond the arc.
- Between Chivers, Tanin, and Hodge-Carr, Loyola Chicago brings back a total of 562 points.
- Also returning, looking to elevate their game this season, are Destiny Jackson and Audrey Deptula.
FRESH FACES
- Guth recruited 10 newcomers to her 2024-25 roster this past offseason. Among the freshmen, Yasmyn Palmer, a 6-foot-2 forward from Southfield, Mich., is expected to bolster the Maroon and Gold in the post. She earned All-Conference, All-Catholic, and Detroit Free Press All-Area honors while playing for Cranbrook Kingswood.
- Roisin Grandberry, hailing from Arlington Heights, Ill., will also contribute in the paint as a 6-foot-3 forward. It is believed that she will be…
- Loyola’s top-rated recruit to date, Grandberry was ranked No. 74 in the 2024 espnW HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings (No. 16 forward). Furthermore, the freshman secured the No. 6 position in the Prep Girls Hoops Illinois class of 2024.
- Alexa Kinas, standing at 5-foot-8, was a versatile student-athlete participating in three sports at Kaukauna High School (Wisconsin). The freshman accumulated over 20 All-Conference recognitions and 12 varsity letters across basketball, golf, track, and cross country at Kaukauna.
- Hailing from Werribee, Australia, Holly Dolny is a 5-foot-8 guard. Dolny played club basketball for Wyndham Basketball under the guidance of Gerard Hillier in Werribee and competed with Recruiting Boost, an Australian travel team, prior to her arrival at Rogers Park.
- Two-time MHSAA DI State Champion Kendall Hendrix received All-League accolades and All-Academic honors at West Bloomfield (Michigan) before joining the Maroon and Gold. Hendrix was also recognized as a 2024 McDonald’s All American Games Nominee during her senior year.
- Completing LUC’s freshman class is Brooklyn Vaughn, originally from Maumee, Ohio. The 6-foot-0 forward was selected for the DII All-Ohio First Team in 2022-23 and the Second Team in 2023-24. Vaughn earned District 7 Player of the Year, TRAC Player of the Year, and TRAC First Team distinctions at Central Catholic.
- Regarding Loyola’s new transfers, Guth searched nationwide for talent that would immediately influence the team. Rosalie Mercille, who moved to Loyola after competing for Monmouth last season, averaged 16.8 minutes, 2.0 rebounds, and 6.4 points per game during the 2023-24 season.
- Emma Theodorsson is a junior guard/forward who had two seasons at Bucknell. Throughout those two years, she averaged 27.6 minutes, 4.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.3 blocks, 0.4 steals, and 10.4 points per game. Theodorsson was acknowledged as the Patriot League Rookie of the Week on two occasions and garnered Patriot League All-Rookie Team recognition after her freshman year, during which she averaged 7.2 points and 3.8 rebounds.
- Jess Finney, a senior shooting guard who brings extensive talent to Loyola’s perimeter, competed for one season at Washington and two seasons at San Diego before becoming a Rambler. The Phoenix native ranked third on the team (San Diego) last season in 3-point shooting percentage, successfully landing 32 percent (26-of-81) of her shots from long distance.
- The last transfer for the Ramblers is Naelle Bernard, a former standout guard from Duquesne. A Paris native, Bernard started 23 out of the 30 games she participated in during the 2023-24 season. Additionally, she averaged 9.4 points per game, shooting 39 percent from the field and 38 percent from beyond the arc.
- In addition to the student-athletes, Guth brought on Assistant Coach Mai-Loni Henson and Director of Basketball Operations, George Buaku, to the Ramblers’ staff.
- Henson previously coached for one season at Colorado College, contributing to the Tigers achieving their first 20-win season in four decades and reaching the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Championship Game.
- Buaku joins Rogers Park following his role as the Director of Player Development and Basketball Analytics for Sixth Man San Diego since 2020, a nonprofit basketball organization. He has also served as an Associate Analyst with HD Intelligence, providing strategic insights through opponent analysis, postgame reviews, and transfer portal management.
ACQUIRE TICKETS NOW!
Experience every women’s basketball match at Gentile Arena with a season ticket package! Options for season tickets include reserved courtside seating for $180 per seat and general admission seating for $81 per seat. Single-game tickets are priced at $10 each.
Courtside season tickets represent the only reserved seating available. These courtside seats are situated opposite the team benches, in front of Sections 108 and 110. The online system will automatically assign you to the best available courtside seats. Please reach out to the Loyola ticket office at (773) 508-9653 for specifics on seat locations. Click here to purchase.
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