Matchup History
- The Greyhounds are back in Reitz this weekend, as they will host Mount St. Mary's at 12 PM on Saturday.
- This will be the 29th meeting between the two teams, with the most recent meeting coming last year, when the Mountaineers won 73-66.
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.
Victor Day
- Saturday's matchup will be the Greyhounds annual Victor Day game.
- Victor Day is an annual recognition event for people currently in treatment, their families, and their oncology care teams.
- It is an opportunity to celebrate and love people through life with cancer. Victor Day is also a chance to honor Bonnie Beachy, who valiantly fought late stage ovarian cancer for over 12 years.
- The Greyhounds partnered with Lifebridge Health to give back by creating care bags for patients at the Lapidus Cancer Center.
- Head Coach
Danielle O'Banion was diagnosed with Stage 2 Lymphoma during her tenor at Kent State. She was presented with the U.S Basketball Writers Association Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award.
- This is the third year that the women's basketball team has hosted Victor Day.
Scouting Mount St. Mary's
- The Mountaineers come into the matchup with an 2-3 record on the season.
- Their two wins came against Navy and FDU, with the win against Navy coming in overtime.
- On the season, Mount St. Mary's is averaging 53.8 points per game on 35.3 percent shooting.
- Jo Raflo leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.2 points per game. Jessica Tomasetti is also averaging double figures, as she is averaging 11.6 points per game.
- Isabella Hunt leads the team in rebounding, averaging 8.2 rebounds per game.
- The Mountaineers are coming off of a 12-19 record in 2022-23, and ended in a loss to No. 1 Iona in the MAAC Championships.
- In the MAAC Preseason Poll, the Mountaineers were picked to finish in 8th place, receiving 47 points.
- Tomasetti was named to the Preseason All-MAAC Third Team, after averaging 10.7 points per game during her junior season.
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 ranks second in the Patriot League in scoring this season, averaging 17.0 points per game. She is also second in rebounds per game, averaging 9.8 per game. Therien also is first in the Patriot League in field goal percentage with 55.7 percent.
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Kelly Ratigan ranks second in the Patriot League in three-pointers made per game, averaging 2.5 three-pointers per game.
- The Greyhounds rank fourth in the Patriot League in points against, allowing 61 points 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.
