Road Win Photos,inc

Women's Basketball 11/16/2024 11:30:00 AM

Women's Basketball Hits Road To Face St. Francis

Match Information
Opponent	at St. Francis
Date	Sunday, November 17, 2024
Time	2:00 p.m.
Location	Loretto, PA \| DeGol Arena
Watch Online	NEC FrontRow \| International Video Stream
Live Stats	Live Stats
Follow Us	Twitter \| Instagram
Game Notes	Loyola Women's Basketball Game Notes (PDF)

The Matchup

The Greyhounds hit the road on Sunday as they will travel to face off against St. Francis in a non-conference matchup.
This will be the fourth meeting between the two programs, with Loyola winning each of the three matchups including a win last season, 53-45.

Quick Hits

The Greyhounds return the bulk of their roster from the 2023-24 season, as they return 88 percent of their scoring, 87 percent of their rebounding, and 87 percent of their minutes played.
Loyola was picked as the preseason favorites in the Patriot League after receiving 148 points and 10 first place votes in the poll. This marks just the second time since 2000 that the Greyhounds were picked as preseason favorites (2004-05, MAAC).
Lex Therien was also named the Preseason Player of the Year entering the 2024-25 season, which is the first Greyhounds player since Katie Sheahin in 2012-13 to be named the Preseason Player of the Year.

Non-Conference Play

Five of Loyola's 11 non-conference games will be at home in Reitz Arena this season, with their home opener coming on November 10 against cross-city foe UMBC.
They then hosted Big East foe St. John's on November 12th to continue their non-conference schedule.
Loyola got out to a strong start in non-conference play last season, starting off 3-1 on the season, including three straight wins.

Scouting St. Francis

The Red Flash come into Sunday's matchup with a 0-4 record on the season, including going 0-2 at home thus far.
They are coming off of a 48-46 loss to Canisius on Friday.
Yanessa Boyd leads the team in scoring so far this season, averaging 9.0 points per game, while Natalie Johnson is second on the team, averaging 8.3 points per game.
Marina Artero leads the team in assists, averaging 3.0 per game this season.
The Red Flash have won the rebounding battle in two of the four games this season (against Lafayette and Coppin State).
They have also struggled with turnovers this season, as they have at least 20 turnovers in each game this season.
They are averaging 47.3 points per game on 36.8 percent shooting through four games.
In the NEC Preseason Poll, the Red Flash were picked to finish in fifth place; they are coming off of a season in which they tied for last in the NEC.

The International Connection

Entering into the 2024-25 season, five players are from outside of the United States, with four of them coming to Loyola from Spain.
Cristina Garcia, Laura Salmeron, Marta Espinal, and Ami Hernandez all are from Spain, with Garcia, Salmeron, and Espinal arriving from the Barcelona area, and Hernandez coming from the Canary Islands.
The other international player is Amandine Amorich, who is from Montpellier, France.

Worth Noting

With seven rebounds against St. John's Lex Therien became the fifth player in program history to reach 1,000 career rebounds. She now has over 1,000 career points and rebounds.
Therien entered the season with 47 career double-doubles.

By The Numbers

Last season, the Greyhounds were 8-3 on the year when they lead going into halftime.
They were also 13-4 when leading in rebounds, and 15-3 when they shot better from the field than their opponents, but 1-11 when their opponents finished with a better shooting percentage.
When scoring at least 60 points, the Greyhounds went 11-2 on the season.
Loyola returns 88 percent of its scoring, 87 percent of their rebounding, and 87 percent of their minutes, which also doesn't include the return of senior Koi Sims, who missed the 2023-24 season due to injury.
In NCAA Division I, the Greyhounds ranks fifth in highest percentage of returning scoring, with Oklahoma returning 98 percent of their scoring as the highest.
Loyola also ranks in the top three in highest percentage of returning rebounding and minutes from last year's team.
Danielle O'Banion is one of two coaches who enter their fourth season at the helm who have seen win increases in each season and a 16-game difference from when they took over, with Vanessa Blair-Lewis at George Mason as the other coach.

Players Mentioned