CHICAGO - The No. 13 Loyola University Chicago Women's basketball team heads to the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championship with momentum as it faces No. 12 George Washington. Tip-off at the Henrico Sports & Events Center is set for 11 a.m. CT. Leah Secondo and Fallon Stokes will call the action live on ESPN+.

QUICK HITS

• The Ramblers ride a two-game win streak into its tournament meeting with GW, having most recently downed Saint Louis, 63-62, at home on Senior Day this past Saturday.
• Overcoming a 17-point deficit, the win marked the program's first regular season finale triumph since 2021-22 and the first under Head Coach Allison Guth.
• After beating SLU at Chaifetz Arena in January, LUC secured its second-ever season sweep of an A-10 foe.
• In her final game at Gentile Arena, Sitori Tanin was unstoppable, posting 17 points and 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season and 12th ever.
• Tanin's 11 rebounds matched her season-high.
• Not a senior, but Emma Theodorsson ended in double figures (14 points) as well for the 12th time this season, the most on the team.
• Theodorsson's five assists were a season-high and matched her career-high.
• Rosalie Mercille added nine points coming off the bench, her most since scoring 11 at Eastern Illinois on Nov. 23.
• Prior to the win, Loyola snapped an eight-game skid and logged its third conference road win of 2024-25, beating VCU, 52-50, for the first time ever.
• Theodorsson led with a game-high 22 points. She gathered five rebounds as well.
• Through the week, the Pittsburgh native averaged 18.0 points and 5.5 rebounds while going 12-of-13 at the charity stripe.
• As a team, LUC outscored the two foes, 34-22, in the third quarter.

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 GEORGE WASHINGTON REVOLUTIONARIES

• George Washington named Doug Novak Interim Head Coach after Head Coach Caroline McCombs stepped down on Feb. 24.
• GW is 12-17 overall and 5-13 in A-10 play after most recently beating Rhode Island, 54-46, on the road to cap the regular season, snapping a four-game skid.
• Makayla Andrews led GW with 15 points while Paige Mott finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
• Andrews (11.5), as well as Gabby Reynolds (10.6), lead the Revolutionaries' offense in double figures. Paige Mott (7.3) and Sara Lewis (7.3) have also been effective.
• The team is 39-percent from the field, the 10th-best clip in the A-10. On defense, its opponents' 38-percent average is the second-worst in the conference.
• Likewise, the team leads the league in rebounding with 39.9 boards per game.

ALL-TIME AGAINST GEORGE WASHINGTON

• Loyola recorded its first-ever win over GW this past January, beating the Revolutionaries, 67-63, on the road. GW, however, won at Loyola in February to even the home-and-home series. 
• The Ramblers are 1-4 all-time versus George Washington.
• In the win, Thoranna Kika Hodge-Carr scored a team and season-high 15 points. She was 9-of-10 (90-percent) at the charity stripe.
• Emma Theodorsson was close behind scoring 14 while gathering a trio of rebounds.
• Kira Chivers added 13 points and dished out three assists.
• Jess Finney totaled 12 points to round out the Ramblers top-4 scorers.
• In a game which featured 57 fouls, Loyola was 21-of-27 (79-percent) at the free throw line.
• GW's 30 fouls are tied for the most committed by an A-10 team in a single game this season, while Loyola's 27 rank as tied for the second-most.

LAST TIME OUT

• Loyola Chicago put an exclamation mark on its regular season Saturday with a thrilling 63-62 victory over Saint Louis on Senior Day at Gentile Arena. Senior captain Sitori Tanin used a double-double to help the Ramblers secure the win.

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.     

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