Loyola Women's Basketball
• Loyola University Maryland women's basketball is opening its 48th season of action and sixth year of play in the Patriot League, a conference it joined prior to the 2013-14 season.
• Prior to joining the Patriot League, Loyola was in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Greyhounds joined the conference in 1989 and, through its 22 years of membership, posted an overall record of 196-205 in MAAC games. Loyola also won two MAAC Tournament titles, in 1993 and 1994.
• Joe Logan is in his 14th season as Loyola's head coach. A 1996 alum of the school, Logan is the program's all-time leader in wins and carries a 169-228 record into the 2018-19 campaign.
Loyola Greyhounds (0-0, 0-0 Patriot League)
• Loyola opens its 2018-19 campaign with three-straight road games, playing at George Mason, Dartmouth and Georgetown before coming to Reitz Arena for its home opener against William & Mary on Saturday, November 17.
• The Greyhounds return all five starters from the 2017-18 campaign and also get graduate student Bri Betz-White, a first-team All-Patriot League performer in 2016-17, back after a season-ending injury held her out of last year.
• Loyola also returns junior Stephanie Karcz and sophomore Isabella Therien, the program's first pair of major year-end award winners from the Patriot League since the Greyhounds joined the conference for the 2013-14 season. Karcz, an All-Patriot League First Team and All-Defensive Team selection, was voted the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and Therien was voted the League's Rookie of the Year.
• Junior Alexis Gray also returns after a record-breaking sophomore season, as the guard broke Loyola's season record for 3-pointers made, connecting on 64 from downtown.
• Senior Ashley Hunter, senior Courtney Vannoy and sophomore Delaney Connolly round out the lineup, as the trio split time in the other two starting roles last year.
• The Greyhounds also welcome a pair of freshmen to the program, as Taleah Dixon makes the short trip to Loyola from the McDonogh School in Baltimore and Laryn Edwards comes from Hampton High School in Allison Park, Pennsylvania.
Stacked Lineup
• The Greyhounds return their entire starting lineup from the 2017-18 team that finished tied for sixth in the Patriot League. Loyola also gets redshirt senior Bri Betz-White back for a fifth year after she missed last season due to injury.
• In returning its entire starting lineup, Loyola brings back 93.3 percent of its scoring, 92.6 percent of rebounding, 88 percent of assists and 90.6 percent of steals from its 2017-18 team.
• Stephanie Karcz, the 2017-18 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-Patriot League honoree, and Isabella Therien, the 2017-18 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, also return, in addition to seniors Ashley Hunter and Courtney Vannoy, juniors Alexis Gray and Molly Taylor, and sophomore Delaney Connolly; all players who logged time in the starting lineup last year.
George Mason Patriots (0-0, 0-0 Atlantic 10)
• The Patriots are coming off a season in which they set the school record for wins, with 24, and produced the program's first winning season in 14 years, as George Mason's 11 non-conference victories were the most for a Patriots team in 30 seasons.
• George Mason also recorded its first-ever postseason victory in program history, defeating Stephen F. Austin, 82-75, in the first round of the WNIT.
• Nicole Cardano-Hillary was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year and to the A-10 All-Defensive Team after setting the program's single-season freshman scoring record with 604 points. She was named to the Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team this year.
Series History
• Loyola and George Mason met for the first time since 1995 last year, with the Patriots coming out on top, 80-72, in Reitz Arena.
• George Mason holds a 7-4 advantage in the all-time series, including a 5-1 edge when playing in Fairfax, Virginia.
• Loyola won the first two games in 1977 and 1979 and then a third in 1983 after the Patriots claimed the 1982 meeting. George Mason then captured five-straight before that final meeting in 1995, which the Greyhounds won.
Last Meeting
• George Mason outscored the Greyhounds 16-8 in the final six minutes of play to pull away with an 80-72 win on November 14.
• The two teams were tied 64-64 entering the final six minutes, but the Patriots extended their lead to 71-64 and held on for the victory.
• Isabella Therien and Alexis Gray led the Greyhounds with 16 points each, while Stephanie Karcz put up 12 for Loyola.
• George Mason's Nicole Cardano-Hillary led all players with 23 points, while Natalie Butler had a double-double of 20 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Up Next
• The Greyhounds remain on the road for a second-straight game as they travel to Dartmouth Friday for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
