CHICAGO - After a thrilling win over Chicago State last time out, the Loyola University Chicago women's basketball team looks for its third-straight win this Saturday (Dec. 21). The Ramblers take on former Missouri Valley Conference foe, Evansville, with the game streaming live on ESPN+. Sam Brief (play by play) and Stephond Robinson (commentary) will call the action live.

QUICK HITS

• Looking to end the non-conference slate with a victory, Loyola Chicago hosts its former MVC co-member at Gentile Arena.
• LUC is on a two-game win streak, having beaten Western Michigan, 57-46, on Dec. 7 and Chicago State, 70-68, this past Tuesday.
• Loyola Chicago was led by three outstanding performances in the win over the Cougars: Naelle Bernard dropped a career-high 24 points, Sitori Tanin posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds (season-high), and Jess Finney scored 18 points.
• Bernard's 24 points marked LUC's first 20+ points scoring performance of the season and her third-ever. Likewise, Tanin's double-figure rebounding performance was a first for LUC this year.
• Tanin became the 30th Rambler in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points in LUC's loss to La Salle on Dec. 3.
• Loyola Chicago won the battle on the glass, 38-34. Loyola's 38 boards were the third-most it has gathered in a single game this season.
• The Ramblers have outrebounded its foes in five games while they average 32.3 rebounds per game.
• The Maroon and Gold own the fourth-best field goal percentage in the Atlantic 10 with a 42-percent clip. Meanwhile, Loyola is stout on the perimeter, holding its opponents to a measly 27-percent clip from three-point range, the second-best mark in the A-10.
• 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 Saturday, Loyola has some time off for Christmas before league action ramps up Sunday, Dec. 29, at home vs. St. Bonaventure.

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 EVANSVILLE ACES

• Head Coach Robyn Scherr is in her fourth season at Evansville where she holds a 27-75 (.265) record.
• This season, Evansville holds a 4-6 overall record and have yet to play an MVC game.
• The Aces were projected to finish last in the MVC Preseason Coaches' Poll, but currently rank No. 9 in the league.
• The team boasts two of the best scorers in The Valley in Camryn Runner and Maggie Hartwig. Runner who averages 18.0 points per game, ranks second in the conference while Hartwig is on her heels 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 2013-2022.
• The Ramblers ride an 11-game win streak vs. Evansville, dating to Jan. 28, 2018.
• Loyola Chicago leads the all-time series, 26-12.
• In the most recent meeting on Feb. 20, 2022, LUC pulled out a 60-56 win in Evansville.
• Allison Day scored 11 of her team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter.
• Sitori Tanin led the bench with four points and five rebounds in 16 minutes of play.

LAST TIME OUT
Naelle Bernard's career-high 24 points and Sitori Tanin's double-double powered Loyola to a 70-68 overtime win Tuesday at Gentile Arena. The Ramblers' win was extra special as the program celebrated its annual Field Trip Day game, packing in 3,455 children and fans from the Chicago area to witness the fun.

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. 

SOCIAL BUZZ
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