CHICAGO - After taking a week-long break for final exams, the Loyola University Chicago women's basketball team is ready to get back into high gear as it hosts Chicago State tomorrow (Dec. 17) on Field Trip Day. Tip-off is set for 11 a.m. with the game streaming live on ESPN+ and Marquee Network. Scott Sudikoff and Sam Brief will call the action live.

PROMOTION
Admission to the game is FREE for all!

QUICK HITS

• Loyola Chicago begins a three-game homestand and hosts Chicago State for its annual Field Trip Day game. Tuesday marks Loyola's last regular season game which will air live on TV.
• In last season's Field Trip Day game, a record-setting crowd of 3,747 watched Loyola defeat SIUE, 77-74, at Gentile Arena. Alyssa Fisher led the way with 26 points, including a buzzer-beater in the final seconds to secure the victory.
• Looking to keep the momentum going, the Ramblers are fresh off a 57-46 win at Western Michigan on Dec. 7.
• Loyola was 37-percent (21-of-57) from the field while limiting Western to a 27-percent (13-of-48) clip.
• LUC outscored WMU in three-of-four quarters en route to the non-conference road win.
• Kira Chivers led Loyola with 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting, her fifth time scoring in double figures this season.
• Emma Theodorsson was close behind and neared a double-double with eight points and eight rebounds, a season-high on the glass.
• Thoranna Kika Hodge-Carr also scored eight points, only shy of tying her season-best.
• Sitori Tanin became the 30th Rambler in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points in LUC's loss to La Salle on Dec. 3. The program will honor her accomplishment pregame vs. Chicago State.
• Kira Chivers continues to be one of the best assist-makers in the league, ranking ninth in total assists (36) and 10th in assists per game (3.6).
• Following Tuesday, the Ramblers host Evansville (Dec. 21) and St. Bonaventure (Dec. 29) before the New Year.

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 CHICAGO STATE COUGARS

• Head Coach Corry Irvin holds a career record of 46-20 and is 0-12 in her first season at Chicago State. She began her career at St. Xavier.
• Former Rambler video coordinator Chanise Jenkins is in her first season as an assistant coach on Irvin's staff. Irvin coached Jenkins at Whitney Young High School in Chicago.
• The Cougars are in their first season a part of the Northeast Conference (NEC) after being independent since its departure from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in 2021-22.
• Most recently, Chicago State fell, 79-52, to Illinois State at home this past Sunday.
• Two Cougars average double figure scoring in Aiyanna Culver (12.1) and Josie Hill (11.3).
• Culver ranks fifth in the NEC's scoring leaders while Hill ranks 11th and is seventh in blocks.
• The team is averaging a 31-percent clip from the field and is 24-percent from beyond the arc.`

ALL-TIME AGAINST CHICAGO STATE

• The Ramblers have won the last 12 matchups with Chicago State, having not lost to CSU since 2007.
• In the most recent meeting on Nov. 9, 2023, Loyola recorded its first win of the season - a 74-47 victory in the Jones Convocation Center on Chicago State's campus.
• Sam Galanopoulos led all scorers with 15 points as the Ramblers improved to 1-1.
• Kira Chivers was close behind Galanopoulos with her 13 points.
• The Ramblers scored 34 points off 26 Chicago State turnovers.
• Loyola's bench produced 39 points while CSU's scored 14.
• LUC notched 32 points in the paint while limiting the Cougars to just 10.
• Sitori Tanin had a breakout performance against Chicago State in her first-ever game wearing the Maroon and Gold on Nov. 28, 2020.
• Tanin scored a team-high 16 points in her collegiate debut to pace a group of four Ramblers in double figures.
• Additionally, she grabbed six rebounds, dished out two assists, and snagged three steals.

LAST TIME OUT

• Sitori Tanin became the 30th Rambler in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points in Tuesday night's 55-45 loss to La Salle at Gentile Arena. The fifth-year led Loyola with 17 points and seven rebounds, marking two new season-highs.

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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