O'Banion Begins First Season in Charge

• Danielle O'Banion was announced as the 12th head coach in program history on April 23, joining the Greyhounds after spending the past three seasons as an assistant at the University of Minnesots.
• O'Banion brings over 20 years of Division I coaching experience to Baltimore. Her teams have combined for 10 postseason appearances, including five NCAA tournaments and one trip to the Final Four during her first stint with Minnesota in 2004.
• Originally from Arlington, Virginia, O'Banion returns to the Mid-Atlantic after coaching stints at Minnesota, Memphis, Kent State and Harvard. A standout recruiter who has brought in four Top-50 classes during her career, she has also held multiple leadership positions within both the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and Advocates for Athletic Equity (formerly Black Coaches and Administrators).
• This will be O'Banion's second head coaching position, as she led Kent State's program from 2012-16.

Prepping for Patriot League Play

• Friday's home opener will be the second of 11 non-conference games for the Greyhounds prior to their Patriot League opener against Army on Dec. 30.
• Five of those contests will take place at Reitz Arena. After this week's homestand, Loyola hits the road for three straight games before hosting Mount St. Mary's (12/4) and Morgan State (12/8) in early December.
• Loyola was ranked ninth out of 10 schools in this year's Patriot League preseason poll. The Greyhounds went 8-22 (5-13 PL) during their last full season of competition in 2019-20.

Five Newcomers Join Program for 2021-22

• Loyola's 16-member roster includes five freshmen who will be making their collegiate debuts this winter.
• Lex Therien becomes the third Therien sister to compete for the Greyhounds, joining current junior Ava Therien and 2021 graduate Isabella.
• Lex was a two-time All-State performer at Cherokee HS in New Jersey, leading the team to a 92-10 record and ranking third in program history with 1,283 points. 
• Therien and fellow freshman Keegan Douglas were named co-South Jersey Players of the Year during their senior high school seasons.
• Douglas totaled 1,624 points at Haddonfield HS while helping the program win three Colonial Conference championships. She was chosen as the confernce's Player of the Year in each of her final two seasons.
• Laura Salmerón joins Loyola after playing two seasons in Spain's second division basketball league. Salmerón, who also competed internationally for Spain's U-15 team, was a three-star ESPN recruit who received a 90 scouts grade.
• Jonelle Price was a key contributor at Neumann-Goretti HS in Philadelphia, helping the program win a PIAA Class 3A state title.
• Vanessa Stolstajner joins the Greyhounds as a walk-on. She was a two-time All-State performer at Cromwell HS in Connecticut, winning a Class A state title in 2019

Smart Hounds

• Loyola posted a team grade-point average of 3.35 during the 2020-21 academic year. Kayla Sieper (3.97), Laryn Edwards (3.66), Devyne Newman (3.54) and Bri Rozzi (3.54) all have cumulative GPA's above a 3.50.
• The program has a history of academic excellence, as the Greyhounds were named to the WBCA Division I Academic Top 25 Honor Roll for five-straight seasons from 2016-20. 
• Loyola was one of just three schools nationally to crack the top 15 academically in each of those five years.

Looking Ahead

• Loyola concludes its homestand with a 7 p.m. matchup against local rivals UMBC on Wednesday.