CHICAGO (February 9, 2022) – Loyola University Chicago (12-9, 4-6 MVC) returns to the friendly confines of Gentile Arena this week to welcome a pair of opponents from downstate Illinois as it opens a three-game homestand.  Illinois State, which sits atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings, will make its way to Rogers Park for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Thursday evening before Bradley invades The Windy City in a 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon matinee.

Loyola enters the week with an impressive 8-1 (.889) when playing inside Gentile Arena this season, a mark which is tied for the best start to a home slate since 1985-86.  With a pair of wins this weekend, the Maroon & Gold can match the program's best start at home since the 1983-84 Ramblers started 15-1. 

LAST TIME OUT
Loyola chipped a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit down to two in the closing minutes, but saw its comeback fall short in an 84-76 setback to Drake this past Sunday at the Knapp Center.  Sam Galanopoulos led a group of five Ramblers to score in double figures, pouring in a career-high 18 points.

LOYOLA/ILLINOIS STATE – THE SERIES
Illinois State owns a 15-8 (.652) in 23 previous meetings with Loyola.  Prior to dropping a pair of games against the Redbirds last season at Gentile Arena, the Ramblers had the upper hand in the series in Rogers Park, winning six straight matchups on its home court.

When the two teams met back on January 15 at Redbird Arena, DeAnna Wilson put up a game-high 25 points as Illinois State shot 55 percent (25-for-45) from the field in a 68-50 victory over Loyola.  Maya Chandler and Julia Hoefling paced the Maroon & Gold with 10 points apiece in the defeat, while Sitori Tanin provided a spark off the bench, adding six points and a team-best seven rebounds.

LOYOLA/BRADLEY – THE SERIES
Loyola and Bradley will meet for the 48th time on Saturday afternoon, a series in which the Braves own a 29-18 (.617) lead.  Despite Bradley winning 10 of the last 13 meetings, the Ramblers have begun to even things up of late, splitting the last four encounters.

Loyola relied on a stout defensive effort to get past Bradley on January 13 inside Renaissance Coliseum, holding the host Braves to just 26.7 percent (16-for-60) shooting in a 48-41 win.  Allison Day became the 28th player in program history to join the 1,000-point club in the victory, while Chandler led the Ramblers with 19 points.

BIRDWATCHING
Winners of three straight, Illinois State owns a 13-9 overall record that includes a 9-2 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Redbirds are part of a tie for first place with UNI atop The Valley standings.

Illinois State picked up a pair of wins against opponents from Indiana last week, breezing past Evansville, 75-60, and Indiana State, 72-64.

Piloted by head coach Kristen Gillespie, Illinois State is led by Juliunn Redmond, DeAnna Wilson, and Mary Crompton.  Redmond averages a team-high 15.4 points per game, good enough for fifth in The Valley, and is just under two weeks removed from a 34-point outburst in a 74-67 loss to UNI.  She's been even better since the start of league play, putting up 16.0 ppg against Valley opposition.  Wilson, who ranks second on the team in scoring (13.9 ppg), pulls down a team-high 7.9 rebounds per contest, while Crompton is a sniper from outside, having drilled 54 three-point field goals, tops in the MVC, while operating at a just under a 39-percent clip (54-for-140) from deep.

BRAVEHEARTED
Coming off a season in which it captured its first Missouri Valley Conference Tournament crown in program history, Bradley resides at 4-16 overall (1-10 MVC) heading into a Thursday evening clash at Valparaiso that precedes Saturday's tilt against Loyola.

After falling to Indiana State, 83-63, last Friday in Peoria, Ill., the Braves snapped a 16-game losing streak by racing by Evansville, 77-67, on Sunday afternoon.

The pairing of Caroline Waite and Tatum Koenig power Bradley's attack on the offensive end.  Waite has enjoyed a breakout freshman campaign for head coach Andrea Gorski, averaging 12.6 points across 17 appearances while draining a team-best 46 triples.  Koenig, fresh off a 23-point effort in Sunday's win over Evansville, sits just behind Waite on the team's scoring chart, contributing 11.4 ppg to go along with 3.5 assists per game.  Sierra Morrow pulls down 5.3 rebounds per contest, tops for any Brave, for a Bradley team that ranks near the bottom of The Valley in rebounding margin (-5.0). 

UP NEXT
Loyola wraps up its three-game homestand with a rescheduled matchup with Indiana State on Tuesday, February 15 at 5 p.m. in Rogers Park.