CHICAGO -- Loyola Chicago women's basketball opens the 2026-27 season against Wright State on Tuesday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. in Gentile Arena. The Ramblers have a 13-game non-conference schedule, eight of which are at home.
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RAMBLINGS
- Loyola tipped off its season with an 80-73 exhibition win over Lewis last Tuesday, Oct. 27.
- Two Ramblers reached double figures against the Flyers: Sophomore newcomer Mireia Jurado had the game-high 21 points, and senior returner Rosalie Mercille registered 15 off the bench. Sophomore guard MD Ntambue added nine points, six assists and four steals.
- The Ramblers went 6-for-12 from three point range in the lone exhibition, led by Mercille who went 3-for-4. The bench came alive, turning in 34 points.
- Defensively, Loyola held Lewis to a 37.1 field shooting percentage and forced 15 turnovers. Junior forward Gabby Wilke and true freshman Gemma Wichmann had six rebounds apiece.
- Junior forward Brooklyn Vaughn is one of four Ramblers retained from last year's roster. She averaged 25.9 minutes per game and led Loyola in rebounding, totaling 182, and in shooting percentage (.455) in 2025-26.
- First-year head coach Morgan Paige enters her inaugural season at the helm of the program, bringing the Ramblers into a new era. Paige is the 12th head coach in program history following a five-year stint at Kansas University as the associate head coach.
- Loyola's 2026-27 roster is split 50/50 between its domestic and international student-athletes. The Ramblers are spread across three continents, hailing from Australia, Europe (France, Greece and Spain) and North America, and four U.S. states (California, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin).
- Loyola returned four Ramblers from last season (Audrey Deptula, Kendall Hendrix, Mercille, and Vaughn), added seven transfers (Vasiliki Cholopoulou, Hailey Johnson, Jurado, Angela Le Faou, Ntambue, Jasmine Perry, Wilke) and one true freshman (Wichmann).
- This year's schedule features a tough nonconference slate, starting off early at Green Bay (Nov. 7) before facing Iowa State (Dec. 6) – where Paige started her coaching career as a graduate assistant – then playing host to Colorado State (Dec. 23) in the Ramblers' final noncon contest.
SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE
- The Raiders returned six players (Rylee Sagester, Elaina Rager, Abbie Riddle, Maja Dilen, Olivia Brown and Grace Okih), added four freshman (Rowan Klesmit, Sydney Williams, Paula Sevilla and Megan Ganschow) and four transfers (Jayden Terry, Megan Campbell, Jasmine Fearne and Allie Daniels).
- Last season, Sagester averaged 25.3 minutes per game with 7.3 points. She led the team in 3-point scoring (.388) and went .401 from the field.
- Okih paced the Raiders in scoring behind a .481 field shooting percentage and was third on the team in rebounds (4.2/game).
- Head coach Kari Hoffman is in her fifth season at Wright State, sporting a 50-102 (.329) record. She's 156-140 (.527) in her all-time career.
SERIES HISTORY
Wright State holds the all-time series advantage, 10-5, with Loyola. The two programs haven't met since 2013, the final year for the Ramblers in the Horizon League. In their most recent meeting (February 2013), the Raiders fell 79-70 on their home court. Wright State returns to Gentile Arena for the first time since January 2013.
