Women's Basketball 12/21/2024 4:52:00 PM

Women's Basketball Set to Face Third Ranked Fighting Irish on Sunday Afternoon

Match Information
Opponent	at #3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Date	Sunday, December 22, 2024
Time	12:00 p.m.
Location	South Bend, IN \| Purcell Pavilion
Watch Online	ACCN \| International Video Stream
Live Stats	Live Stats
Follow Us	Twitter \| Instagram
Game Notes	Loyola Maryland Women's Basketball Game Notes (PDF)

The Matchup

The Greyhounds will travel to face the 3rd ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Sunday afternoon for their last non-conference road game of the season.
This will be the fourth meeting between the two programs, with the Fighting Irish winning their last matchup 84-60 in 2019.

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

Non-conference play continues to wind down, as the Greyhounds have just two games until Patriot League play begins.
They will be traveling to South Bend, Indiana to face the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish on December 22. They wrap up non-conference play with a home game against Haverford on December 30.
Through nine games, the Greyhounds have gone 5-4, as they are averaging 58.3 points per game this season.
Loyola is allowing just 59.6 points per game this season, while forcing 18.3 turnovers per game.
The Greyhounds look to improve upon their 5-6 non-conference record in 2023-24.

Scouting Notre Dame

Notre Dame comes into the matchup with a 9-2 (1-0) record on the season, and are coming off of a 118-49 win over Eastern Michigan last Saturday.
The Fighting Irish have won their last four games, including wins over then-No. 4 Texas and No. 2 Connecticut.
Notre Dame comes into the weekend ranked No. 3 in the AP Top 25 poll and No. 4 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Hannah Hidalgo leads the Irish and is second in the country in scoring, averaging 25.2 points per game.
Liatu Kins ranks foruth in the country in rebounds per game (11.5), while Hidalgo is second in steals per game (4.2).
In their last game against Eastern Michigan, Notre Dame made a program record 16 three-pointers in the win.
The Irish lead the country in three-point percentage, shooting 42.8 percent from deep on the season.
Notre Dame also ranks in the top-ten in points per game (88.1), blocks per game (6.1), and rebounds per game (45.4).
Hidalgo entered the season as the ACC Preseason Player of the Year, as the Irish were picked as the Preseason Favorites.

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.

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 came into the season with 47 career double-doubles.
The Greyhounds went 8-8 on the road last season.

By The Numbers

So far this season, the Greyhounds are 5-0 when they have the lead going into halftime, while they are 4-0 when they have a better shooting percentage, and 5-0 when they win the turnover battle.
When scoring at least 60 points this season, the Greyhounds have gone 4-1 after going 11-2 last season when scoring at least 60 points.
Loyola returns 88 percent of their 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 rank fifth in highest percentage of returning scoring, with Oklahoma returning 98 percent of their scoring.
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