BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland women's basketball continues a five-game homestand on Sunday, hosting Lehigh in its annual Play4Kay game at 1 p.m. The Mountain Hawks were projected to finish first out of 10 schools in this year's Patriot League preseason poll.
Last Time Out
- Emily McAteer scored 15 of her season-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, but Loyola's late rally fell short in a 64-56 defeat to Holy Cross on Thursday.
- Trailing 59-39 with under six minutes remaining in regulation, the Greyhounds used a 12-0 run to trim the deficit down to single digits, but could get no closer than seven points in the closing seconds.
- Stephanie Karcz chipped in 14 points, seven steals and six rebounds, as the Division I leader in steals per game managed 6+ thefts for a 10th straight contest.
- Bri Rozzi added a season-high 13 points, as she reached double figures for a third game in a row.
- McAteer hit 7 of 12 shots from the field and 4 of 8 attempts from 3-point range.
Series History
- Lehigh leads 12-7 in a series which dates back to 1982.
- The Mountain Hawks have won eight of the 13 meetings since Loyola joined the Patriot League in 2013-14, including each of the last three matchups.
- The Greyhounds have won three of the last four meetings at Reitz Arena, with the lone loss in that span a 65-46 setback on Feb. 27 last season. Hannah Niles led Loyola with 16 points in that contest, finishing one point shy of her career-high.
Scouting Lehigh
- The Mountain Hawks (9-3, 1-0) have won four of their last five games, including a 70-40 home win over Navy in Thursday's Patriot League opener.
- Lehigh relied on 44 bench points in Thursday's victory, with Mary Clougherty (15 points) and Emma Grothaus (14) leading the reserves.
- Sr. G Camryn Buhr, a Preseason All-Patriot League selection, leads the team in both scoring (13.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.3 rpg).
- Lehigh leads the Patriot League in scoring defense (57.2 ppg), scoring margin (+10.2), and rebounding (42.2 rpg).
- Lehigh finished the 2018-19 season with an overall record of 21-10 (12-6), falling by a 68-57 margin to American in the Patriot League semifinals.
More on Karcz's Historic Steals Pace
- Stephanie Karcz has now totaled 80 steals through Loyola's first 12 contests. Her 6.7 steals per game pace would break the Division I single-season record. The current mark of 6.4 is held by Florida A&M's Natalie White (1995) and Lamar's Chastadie Barrs (2018).
- Only two other players in Division I (Norfolk State's Charlotte Hicks, 5.1 spg; Lamar's Jadyn Pimentel, 4.2 spg) are averaging over four steals per game this season.
- Karcz is Loyola's all-time record holder with 391 career steals. She is nine thefts away from becoming just the 28th player in DIvision I history to reach 400.
- Other records potentially within reach include her own single-season steals record (123 in 2018-19) and the Patriot League single-season record of 168, which was established by Lafayette's Heidi Caruso in 1992-93.
- Karcz ranked fourth in DI in steals per game in each of the last two seasons (4.2 spg in 2018-19, 3.7 spg in 2017-18).
Offensive Breakout for McAteer
- Emily McAteer accounted for 15 of Loyola's 19 points in the fourth quarter of Thursday's defeat to Holy Cross. Her 18 points overall were the most for any Greyhound since Stephanie Karcz had 20 at Florida Atlantic on Nov. 29.
- McAteer reached double figures for a third time this season. She totaled 11 points in a win over FDU on Nov. 13 and 14 against Wright State on Nov. 30.
- In addition to her 18 points, McAteer matched a season-high with seven rebounds and set a new season best with two blocks.
- McAteer's four made 3-pointers on Thursday were tied with Laryn Edwards (Nov. 13 at FDU) for the most by a Loyola player in a game this season.
Rozzi Keeps Rolling
- Bri Rozzi totaled 12 points each in back-to-back wins over Monmouth and Dartmouth, and she recorded a new season-best with 13 points Thursday afternoon against Holy Cross.
- Rozzi hit 4 of 11 field goal attempts and all four of her free throws. She is now shooting a team-best 86.2% (25-29) from the charity stripe this season.
Play4Kay
- Loyola will wear pink jerseys on Sunday for its annual Play4Kay game, with all proceeds raised from the initiative directed to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
- Loyola assistant coach Chasity Melvin played under Yow in the late 1990's, leading NC State to the Final Four during her senior season in 1997-98, and both Melvin and assistant coach Shelley Sheetz spent time working for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund prior to joining the Greyhounds.
- Fans wishing to contribute can visit Loyola's team page at www.pledgeit.org/loyola-womens-basketball.
Active Hands on D
- Loyola set a new season-high with 17 steals in Tuesday's 72-56 win over Dartmouth. The 17 thefts were Loyola's most in a game since Nov. 10, 2017 against Cornell.
- The school record for steals is 18, a mark which has been reached on six separate occasions.
- Loyola leads the conference and ranks 12th nationally in steals per game (12.7).
Sharing the Ball
- Loyola ranks 2nd in the Patriot League with 15.3 assists per game this season.
- Stephanie Karcz (4.3 apg) ranks fourth individually while Alexis Gray (3.2 apg) is just outside the conference's top 10 in 11th.
- Loyola has recorded 10+ assists in every game this season. Its season-high was a 21-assist effort against Howard on Nov. 20.
Looking Ahead
- Loyola concludes its long stretch of games at Reitz Arena with an 11:30 a.m. Field Trip Day matchup against Colgate on Wednesday.
