CHICAGO - Three days removed from its win at SIUE, the Loyola University Chicago women's basketball team looks to keep its momentum rolling as the team plays host to Valparaiso tomorrow (Nov. 19) inside Gentile Arena. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. with the game streaming live on ESPN+. Sam Brief and former Loyola basketball standout, Christian Thomas, will call the game.

QUICK HITS

• After starting the season 2-0 for the first time since 2019-20, the Ramblers dropped its home contest to DePaul but rebounded for a 57-52 road win at SIUE this past Saturday.
• Kira Chivers scored a career-high 14 points in the win. The Chicago native was 9-of-10 at the charity strip to keep Loyola ahead of the Cougars late in the game.
• Chivers scored 12 points against the Blue Demons, making her week total of 26 a team-high.
• Also scoring in double figures was Jess Finney with 10. The senior guard has scored in double digits in three-of-four games this season. She added five rebounds as well.
• Rosalie Mercille came off the bench and scored 10 points as well, a season-high. The sophomore guard scored two big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to create much-needed separation from SIUE.  
• Also making a big impact off the bench was Emma Theodorsson who scored nine points and gathered five boards.
• Sitori Tanin led the team on the glass with six rebounds, a season-high, and her most since bringing down seven at Saint Louis last season.
• The Ramblers are making an effort to be stronger on the glass. Loyola's 15 offensive rebounds - which turned into eight second-chance points - against SIUE were a season-high. 
• Graduate student forward Sitori Tanin is just 38 points away from eclipsing 1,000 throughout her five-year career. She will be the 30th Rambler to join the 1,000-point club.
• Following Tuesday's contest against Valpo, Loyola Chicago returns to the road for a Nov. 23 meeting at Eastern Illinois.

RAMBLER BITES

• Five letterwinners return to the roster, including two starters. The Ramblers welcome 10 newcomers, including six freshman and four transfers.
• Head coach Allison Guth is in her third season at the helm of Loyola. 2024-25 is her ninth year as a head coach after spending the first six seasons at Yale.
• Loyola Chicago's nine-win improvement from 2022-23 to 2023-24 was the second best turnaround in the Atlantic 10.
• The Ramblers named returners Sitori Tanin, Thoranna Kika Hodge-Carr, and Kira Chivers team captains for the 2024-25 season.
• A trio of 2023-24 Ramblers inked professional contracts overseas this past summer: Emma Nolan (Bad Homburg, Germany), Sophia Nolan (Dillingen Diamonds, Germany), and Sam Galanopoulos (Esperides Kallitheas, Greece). There are now seven former Ramblers who have played pro basketball.

SCOUTING THE VALPARAISO BEACONS

• Valpo was projected to finish eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• The Beacons are 1-3 overall with the team's sole win coming over Trinity Christian - an 81-40 win at home.
• Most recently, Valpo suffered a 90-79 defeat at Milwaukee this past Thursday.
• The Beacons average 68.5 points per game compared to Loyola's 71.0 which ranks No. 6 in the Atlantic 10.
• Nevaeh Jackson ranks seventh in the MVC in blocked shots per game (1.5) and 15th in points per game (13.8).
• Leah Earnest is close behind in 16th with the same 13.8 points per game average.
• Valpo is 43-percent from the field and 32-percent from long range. They cash in 68-percent of their free throw attempts.

ALL-TIME AGAINST VALPARAISO

• In an all-time series that dates to the 1993-94 season, Loyola Chicago trails its former MVC foe, 9-25.
• The two squads have not met since the Ramblers left the MVC in 2022.
• Loyola Chicago is on a two-game win streak vs. Valpo, having not lost to the Beacons since Feb. 24, 2021, at home.
• In the most recent meeting on Feb. 25, 2022, the Maroon and Gold used a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter to beat Valpo, 66-52, on the road.
• Mya Chandler led all scorers with 20 points while Allison Day added 11.
• The last time the two met inside Gentile Arena was Jan. 28, 2022, when Loyola won 62-48 thanks to Bre Hampton-Bey, Allison Day, and Maya Chandler all scoring in double figures.

LAST TIME OUT
Loyola Chicago used a 27-point offensive onslaught in the fourth quarter to beat SIUE, 57-52, Saturday afternoon in Edwardsville, Ill., at First Community Arena. Powered by Kira Chivers' career-high 14 points, the win marked Loyola first road triumph of the season and improved the team's record to 3-1 overall.

ATLANTIC 10 PRESEASON POLL
The defending champion Richmond Spiders were voted as the Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball 2024-25 season favorite in the league's annual Preseason Poll. Saint Joseph's was chosen second in the poll with 211 points and four first place votes. After a record setting 2023-24 where they went 15-3 in the Atlantic 10 and won 23 games, George Mason, with 188 votes, rounded out the top-3.

RETURNING RAMBLERS

• Back for another season is graduate student Sitori Tanin, Loyola's 6-foot-2 force in the paint. Tanin racked up 45 blocks (1.5 per game) last season to lead the team and rank No. 4 in the A-10. She posted at least one block in 23 games, including a career-high five vs. Saint Joseph's on Jan. 31.
• Graduate student guard Thoranna Kika Hodge-Carr is ready to pick up where she left off in 2023-24. The Keflavik, Iceland, native averaged 5.6 points per game last season to rank fifth on the team. Likewise, she tallied 3.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game to rank third and fourth on the team, respectively.
• Kira Chivers, who averaged 19.0 minutes and 3.5 points per game to rank sixth and seventh on the team, respectively, is looking to make noise this season. The Chicago native made 33-of-96 attempts from the field for a 34-percent clip. Additionally, she was 19-of-46 (41-percent) from deep.
• Between Chivers, Tanin, and Hodge-Carr, Loyola Chicago returns 562 points.
• Also back and looking to take a step this season are Destiny Jackson and Audrey Deptula.

FRESH FACES

• Guth signed 10 newcomers to her 2024-25 roster this past offseason. In terms of freshman, Yasmyn Palmer, a 6-foot-2 forward from Southfield, Mich., will help the Maroon and Gold in the post. She earned All-Conference, All-Catholic, and Detroit Free Press All-Area accolades playing for Cranbrook Kingswood.
• Roisin Grandberry, who's originally from Arlington Heights, Ill., will also help in the paint as a 6-foot-3 forward. Believed to be Loyola's highest-rated recruit ever, Grandberry was tabbed No. 74 in the 2024 espnW HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings (No. 16 forward). Additionally, the freshman was ranked No. 6 in the Prep Girls Hoops Illinois class of 2024.
• Alexa Kinas, a 5-foot-8 guard, was a tri-sport student-athlete at Kaukauna High School (Wisconsin). The freshman racked up 20-plus All-Conference awards and 12 varsity letters playing basketball, golf, track, and cross country at Kaukauna.
• Coming from Werribee, Australia, Holly Dolny stands as a 5-foot-8 guard. Dolny played club basketball for Wyndham Basketball under Gerard Hillier in Werribee and competed with Recruiting Boost, an Australian travel team, before coming to Rogers Park.
• Two-time MHSAA DI State Champion Kendall Hendrix earned All-League honors and All-Academic plaudits at West Bloomfield (Michigan) before joining the Maroon and Gold. Hendrix was also named a 2024 McDonald's All American Games Nominee her senior season.
• Rounding out LUC's freshman class is Brooklyn Vaughn, a native of Maumee, Ohio. The 6-foot-0 forward was named to the DII All-Ohio First Team in 2022-23 and Second Team in 2023-24. Vaughn collected District 7 Player of the Year, TRAC Player of the Year, and TRAC First Team accolades at Central Catholic.
• As for Loyola's incoming transfers, Guth scouted the country for talent that would make an immediate impact on the team. Rosalie Mercille, who transferred to Loyola after playing for Monmouth last season, averaged 16.8 minutes, 2.0 rebounds, and 6.4 points per game in 2023-24.
• Emma Theodorsson is a junior guard/forward who played two seasons at Bucknell. She averaged 27.6 minutes, 4.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.3 blocks, 0.4 steals and 10.4 points per game through those two seasons. Theodorsson was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week twice and raked in Patriot League All-Rookie Team honors after averaging 7.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game her freshman year.
• Jess Finney, a senior shooting guard who brings a wealth of skill to Loyola's wing, played one season at Washington and two at San Diego before joining the Ramblers. The Phoenix native was third on the team (San Diego) last season in 3-point percentage as she cashed in 32-percent (26-for-81) of her shots from beyond the arc.
• The Ramblers' final transfer is Naelle Bernard, a former standout guard from Duquesne. A native of Paris, Bernard started 23 of the 30 games she played during the 2023-24 season. Likewise, she averaged 9.4 points per game, shooting 39-percent from the field and 38-percent from 3-point range.
• In addition to student-athletes, Guth added Assistant Coach Mai-Loni Henson and Director of Basketball Operations, George Buaku, to the Ramblers' team.
• Henson previously coached one season at Colorado College, helping the Tigers achieve their first 20-win season in 40 years and an appearance in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Championship Game. 
• Buaku comes to Rogers Park after serving as the Director of Player Development and Basketball Analytics for Sixth Man San Diego since 2020, a nonprofit basketball organization. Buaku has also worked as an Associate Analyst with HD Intelligence, offering strategic insights through opponent scouting, postgame analysis, and transfer portal management.

BUY TICKETS NOW!
Catch every women's basketball game at Gentile Arena with a season ticket package! Season ticket options include reserved courtside seating for $180/seat and general admission seating for $81/seat. Single-game tickets are $10/each.

Courtside season tickets are the only reserved seats available. Courtside seats are located across from the team benches in front of Sections 108 and 110. The online system will automatically place you in the best courtside seats available. Please contact the Loyola ticket office at (773) 508-9653 to discuss specific seat locations. Click here to purchase. 

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