The Matchup
- After two unscheduled weeks off, Loyola returns to the court this weekend for a pair of matchups against American. The Greyhounds host the Eagles at 1 p.m. on Saturday before traveling to Bender Arena for a 4 p.m. contest the following afternoon.
- Loyola's last four games have been postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests within Navy and Lafayette's Tier 1 groups.
Series History
- American leads 22-7 in a series which dates back to 1977.
- Loyola earned a 56-47 home victory in the last meeting between the sides on Feb. 12 last season. Stephanie Karcz led the Greyhounds with 11 points, 15 rebounds and five assists. American committed 20 turnovers and shot just 32.0% from the field.
- Prior to that setback, the Eagles had won seven-straight in the series, with the last six of those victories decided by double digits.
- The Greyhounds suffered a 63-44 road defeat in last year's first matchup on Jan. 22. American led just 40-39 after three quarters, but outscored the visitors 23-5 over the last 10 minutes.
- Loyola's last win at Bender Arena was a 55-50 triumph on Feb. 27, 2016.
Scouting American
- Jade Edwards, a Seconnd Team All-Patriot League honoree last season, was named PL Player of the Week on Jan. 12 after setting career-highs in points (31), rebounds (13) and steals (5) during a defeat at Lehigh. She is seventh nationally in steals per game (3.8) and she is 18th in DI in scoring (22.0 ppg).
- The Eagles, who finished last season with a record of 13-17 (8-10 PL), were ranked fifth in this year's Patriot League preseason poll.
- American's seventh-place finish in last year's Patriot League standings was its lowest since 2016. The Eagles topped the standings and claimed their second Patriot League title back in 2018.
Last Time Out
- With less than 24 hours to prepare for a series against the defending Patriot League regular season champions, Loyola opened its season with a pair of defeats to Bucknell on the weekend of Jan. 2-3. The Bison took the opener by a 72-44 margin and followed with a 59-44 triumph at Reitz Arena on Sunday.
- The games were scheduled on Friday evening after Loyola's contests with American and Bucknell's matchups with Navy were postponed due to COVID-19 protocols.
- Devyne Newman (16) and Taleah Dixon (14) accounted for 30 of Loyola's 44 points on Saturday, while Emily McAteer led the Greyhounds with 14 points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocks on Sunday.
- Delaney Connolly added a team-high 10 rebounds for Loyola on Sunday.
- Loyola shot 85.7 percent from the free throw llne last weekend, hitting 24 of 28 attempts. The team was 19 for 22 on Sunday =, highlighted by a perfect 8 for 8 FT line from Dixon.
- The Greyhounds shot just 12.5 percent (4 for 32) from 3-point range in the two setbacks.
Welcome to Loyola
- Devyne Newman, a junior guard who spent her first two seasons at St. Joseph's, made the most of her Loyola debut in the season opener at Bucknell. She totaled a team-high 16 points while hitting 8 of 14 field goal attempts.
- Newman's previous career scoring high was a 12-point output during a St. Joseph's matchup against Penn on Nov. 20, 2019.
Rejected
- So. F Emily McAteer recorded three blocks in Loyola's opener at Bucknell on Jan. 2, tied for the most by a Greyhound player in a game since Feb. 21, 2018. She added two more rejections the following evening, and is currently ranked tied for first in the conference with 2.5 blocks per game on the year.
More Notes from the Bucknell Series
- Taleah Dixon, playing in her first games since March 2019, averaged a team-high 33.5 minutes in the two contests. She logged 38 minutes in Sunday's home opener.
- Loyola's team FT percentage of 85.7 percent leads all of Division I.
- Bri Rozzi, who earned starts in both games, recorded a career-high three steals in Saturday's season opener.
- Caramina Tañedo led the four Loyola freshmen in minutes played (38), points (7) and assists (3).
- Loyola's starting five of Dixon, Rozzi, Delaney Connolly, Emily McAteer and Devyne Newman accounted for 74 of the Greyhounds' 88 points scored in the two contests.
- McAteer's 14 points on Sunday were four shy of her career-high of 18, which was established in Loyola's Patriot League opener against Holy Cross last season.
Patriot League Announces Format Changes for 2020-21 Season
- In response to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, the Patriot League has instituted several changes to the basketball schedule for this season, including the separation of schools into three divisions to limit team travel. Loyola is grouped with American and Navy in the newly-created South division.
- Loyola's first four matchups against both American and Navy will count in the divisional standings, which will be used to determine seeding in this year's conference tournament.
- Eight teams will qualify for the conference tournament, rather than the usual 10. Winners of each division will be seeded 1-3, while second-place teams will be seeded 4-6. The final two spots will be awarded based on overall win percentage against PL opponents.
Social Justice Initiatives
- In a continuing effort to highlight social justice causes, Loyola women's basketball will be wearing different themes shooting shirts for each weekend of games this season. This weekend's shirts will have "Know Their Story" on the front and the names of Sandra Bland and Trayvon Martin on the back.
- Delaney Connolly and Taleah Dixon are both members of the Patriot League's Social Justice Coalition, while Joe Logan is a coach representative on Loyola's Student-Athletes for Social Justice (SA4SJ), a group formed this summer to develop and create a more inclusive environment, with a focus on Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ+ communities, and other marginalized groups.
Patriot League Begins Partnership with ESPN+
- The Patriot League announced in September a multi-year agreement which makes ESPN+ the exclusive digital home for the conference's sporting events, beginning with the 2020-21 academic year.
- All Loyola women's basketball games this season will be available on ESPN+, which can be purchased for either $5.99 a month or $49.99 annually. Fans can also subscribe to ESPN+ as part of the Disney Bundle, which includes Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu (ad-supported) for just $12.99/month.
- More information regarding how to watch the Greyhounds on ESPN+ is available HERE.
Looking Ahead
- Loyola continues South division play next weekend, hosting Navy at 1 p.m. on Saturday and traveling to Annapolis for a 3 p.m. matchup on Sunday.
