Matchup History
- The Greyhounds will host the Binghamton Bearcats on Saturday evening for their regular season home opener at 5:00 PM.
- This will be the first meeting between the two programs. The Bearcats are one of three teams the Greyhounds will face for the first time this year. The other two teams are St. Bonaventure and St. Johns.
Quick Hits
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Danielle O'Banion is in her third season as the Greyhounds' head coach and returns 11 players from last year's team, including Preseason All-Patriot League nominee
Lex Therien.
- The Greyhounds reached the Patriot League Quarterfinals in 2022-23.
- Therien was named to Second Team All-Patriot League last season, where she averaged a career-high 15.4 points and 11.1 rebounds per game on 49.1 percent shooting.
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Lex Therien was named to the Patriot League Preseason All-League team for the second straight season.
Welcome to the Greyhounds
- The Greyhounds welcome five newcomers to the team in 2023-24.
- Center
Aminata Hernandez joins the team from the Canary Islands, Spain. She becomes the fourth player on the Greyhounds from Spain.
- Guard
Kimmie Hicks joins the team from Annapolis, Maryland. Hicks was named to the IAAM All-Conference during her senior season.
- Guard
Kailey Kalet joins the team from Union Springs, NY. She was named the NYSPHSAA Section IV Player of the Year during her senior season.
- Wing
Amandine Amorich joins the team out of Montpellier, France, and is the fifth international player on the Greyhounds roster.
- Lastly, Center
Lily Bottomley joins the team from Canal Fulton, Ohio. She was named the OHSBCA Division 2 State Player of the Year during her senior season.
Scouting Binghamton
- The Bearcats come into the matchup with a 1-1 record. They defeated Bloomsburg in their season opener, before losing to Siena College on Thursday night.
- So far this season, Genevieve Coleman leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.0 points. In total, seven players are averaging at least five points per game after two games.
- Jadyn Weltz leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.5 rebounds per game thus far. Weltz also leads the team in assists, totaling 11 assists in two games.
- The Bearcats were picked to finish in fourth place in the America East Preseason Poll, finishing behind Vermont, Maine, and Albany.
- Denai Bowman was selected to the American East Preseason All-Conference Team. Bowman is a three-time all-conference selection thus far in her career.
- Binghamton is coming off of a 13-17 (6-10) season, where they reached the America East Quarterfinals, where they lost to Maine, 64-54.
- The Bearcats played two Patriot League oppnonets last season, Army and Navy, where they defeated both teams.
The International Connection
- Coming into the 2023-24 season, five players are from outside of the United States, with four of them coming to Loyola from Spain.
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Cristina Garcia, Laura Salmeron,
Marta Espinal, and Ami Hernandez all are from Spain, with Garcia, Salmeron, and Espinal coming from Barcelona, and Hernandez coming from the Canary Islands.
- The other international is
Amandine Amorich, who is from Montpellier, France, but played her high school basketball in Quebec.
Worth Noting
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Lex Therien ranked 10th in the country in rebounds per game as she averaged 11.1 rebounds. She also ranked fourth in the League in scoring and was eighth in steals per game. She also ranked seventh in minutes per game.
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Koi Sims ranked 26th in the country in offensive rebounds with 3.6 per game before her season ending-injury. She was also fifth in the conference in rebounds and second in offensive rebounds per game.
A Look Back
- Loyola finished the 2022-23 season with a 10-21 (4-14) record, which saw a five-win improvement from O'Banion's first season at the helm.
- They also won the most non-conference games in 12 seasons with six non-conference wins on the season.
- They also showed improvement on the road, winning their most road games in a season since the 2015-16 season.
- The Greyhounds also won their first conference tournament game since the 2018-19 season.
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Lex Therien set the Loyola record for most individual rebounds in a season (344), the highest rebounding average in a season (11.1), and most defensive rebounds in a season (251).
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Koi Sims set the new program record in offensive rebounds per game with 3.6 per game.
