Women's Basketball Welcomes Cross-City Foe UMBC to Reitz on Sunday Evening

Match Information
Opponent	UMBC Retrievers
Date	Sunday, November 10, 2024
Time	5:00 p.m.
Location	Baltimore, Md. \| Reitz Arena
Tickets	Purchase Tickets
Getting There	Directions
Online Media	ESPN+ l Live Stats
Follow Us	Twitter \| Instagram
Game Notes	Loyola Women's Basketball Game Notes (PDF)

The Matchup

The Greyhounds will host the UMBC Retrievers for their 2024-25 home opener on Sunday evening.
This will be the 24th meeting between the cross-city foes, with the Greyhounds holding a 16-7 edge. Loyola won last years matchup, 49-48, thanks to a pair of free throws from Ava Therien with .5 seconds remaining.

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

The Greyhounds will begin the regular season with a road test against the James Madison Dukes on November 7.
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.
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 UMBC

The Retrievers come into the matchup with a 1-1 record on the season, and are coming off of a win over Notre Dame of Maryland.
UMBC lost thier season opener to No. 18 Maryland, 74-32.
Through two games, Jordon Lewis and Jaliena Sanchez are tied for the team lead in points per game, as they are averaging 10.0 per game.
Carmen Yanez is averaging 4.5 assists per game this season to lead the team.
UMBC was picked to finish in sixth place in the America East Preseason Poll, as they received 26 points in the poll.
The Retrievers are coming off of a 2023-24 season where they went 10-19 (6-10) on the season. They went on to lost in the first round of the America East Tournament to No. 3 Vermont.

Familiar Face

There will be a familiar face on the UMBC sideline, as Loyola alum Candice Hill is in her first season as the Retrievers Head Coach.
Hill (Formerly Candice Walker) was a five-year member of the Greyhounds from 2007-2012, where she played in over 100 games for Loyola in her career.

The International Connection

Coming 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 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

Lex Therien comes into the season 19 rebounds shy of 1,000 career rebounds. She would become just the fifth player in program history to eclipse the 1,000 career rebounds mark, and the fifth player to eclipse the 1,000 career points and rebounds mark.
Therien comes into the season with 47 career double-doubles.
The Greyhounds have not won a season opener since the 2017 season when they defeated Cornell 78-63.

Players Mentioned