CHICAGO (January 22, 2020) – Coming off a hard-fought victory this past Sunday, Loyola University Chicago (13-4, 4-2 MVC) opens up a three-game road trip on Friday evening when it battles Valparaiso.  Tip-off from the Athletics Recreation-Center in Valparaiso, Ind. is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Currently sitting at 8-0 on the road, Loyola has the opportunity to join UConn as one of only two teams to post a 9-0 road mark with a win on Friday evening.  In 2019-20 alone, the Ramblers have already eclipsed their total for road wins from the past three seasons combined.


LAST TIME OUT
Loyola split a pair of games last weekend in Rogers Park, falling to Bradley by a 60-47 margin on Friday afternoon before downing Illinois State, 69-64, in a Sunday matinee.  Abby O'Connor reached the 1,000-point mark for her career against the Braves, becoming only the 25th player in program history to achieve the feat.  Allison Day powered the Maroon & Gold in the win over the Redbirds, scoring 15 of her game-high 17 points in the second half, as Loyola shot a red-hot 76.2 percent (16-of-21) over the final 20 minutes of regulation.

LOYOLA – VALPARAISO – THE SERIES
Friday evening's matchup marks the 29th meeting between Loyola and Valparaiso, but only the sixth as Missouri Valley Conference rivals. The Crusaders hold a 22-6 (.786) advantage in the all-time series.  Loyola will be in search of its first win at the Athletics-Recreation Center since a 52-44 victory back on January 16, 2013, which also still stands as the program's lone road win over the Crusaders.  When the two teams met in the 2018-19 regular-season finale last March, Abby O'Connor (22 points) and Ellie Rice (19 points) both turned in impressive efforts, but Valparaiso, which shot just under 51 percent from the field, used a second-quarter run to seize control before holding off a late Loyola comeback attempt to claim an 81-74 triumph. 


SCOUTING VALPARAISO
Having already exceeded its win total from a year ago, Valparaiso holds a 10-7 (.588) overall record and sits at 2-4 (.333) in Missouri Valley Conference play.  Prior to dropping games to Illinois State, 72-60, and Bradley, 75-61, last weekend, the Crusaders had rattled off six straight wins on their home floor to begin the season.  Second-year head coach Mary Evans' team is led by the pairing of Grace Hales and Addison Stoller.  Hales averages a team-high 12.2 points, with Stoller, who posted a double-double (22 points, 11 rebounds) when Loyola visited Northwest Indiana last season, chipping in 11.0 points across her 17 appearances.  The Crusaders rely heavily on three-point shooting, knocking down 8.5 attempts from distance per game, a mark that ranks second overall in The Valley. 


UP NEXT
Loyola stays on the road next weekend for a two-game road swing through Iowa that features matchups with UNI (January 31) and Drake (February 2).