Matchup History
- The Greyhounds will be back on the road, as the Greyhounds travel to square off against in-state foe, Navy.
- This will be the 33rd matchup between the two programs, which dates back to the 1978 season. Loyola won the first meeting of the season, 70-67, in Reitz Arena. Kimmie HIcks scored a team-high 16 points in the win for Loyola. The Greyhounds have held the edge recently, winning three of the last four matchups, with each winning coming at home. Loyola has not won at Navy since the 2019-20 season, when they won 64-54.
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 last time the Greyhounds finished the season .500 or better was during the 2015-16 season, when they finished 16-16. This was also the last time they finished .500 or better in conference play (11-7).
- Loyola currently sits tied for first place in the Patriot League with Holy Cross and Army, as they are all 8-5 in conference play, and have to play both Army once more
Patriot League Play
- The Greyhounds own a 8-5 record in Patriot League so far this season.
- In conference play, three Greyhounds are averaging double-digits.
Lex Therien (17.1) leads the way for Loyola, while Laura Salmeron (11.8) has started to heat up. Freshman
Kimmie Hicks (10.0),
Kelly Ratigan (9.0) and
Ava Therien (7.2).
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Lex Therien has continued her dominance on the boards, averaging 9.7 rebounds per game in Patriot League play.
- The Greyhounds have had success in the second half during conference play, outscoring opponents by a combined 72 points in the second half, including a 31 point difference in the fourth quarter.
Scouting Navy
- The Midshipmen come into the matchup with a 9-15 (5-8) record on the season. They are coming off of a 69-60 loss against Boston on Saturday afternoon. In their prior game, they defeated American, 69-55.
- Navy ranks third in the Patriot League this season in scoring, averaging 61.8 points per game.
- Freshman Zanai Barnett-Gay leads the Midshipmen in scoring, while also ranking second in the Patriot League, with 18.0 points per game. Fellow Freshman Kyah Smith is also averaging 12.5 points per game.
- Barnet-Gay ranks fifth in the Patriot League in rebounds, averaging 6.5 per game.
- Kyah Smith is tied for third in the Patriot League in assists per game, averaging 3.5 per game.
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 third in the Patriot League in scoring this season, averaging 17.1 points per game. She is also second in rebounds per game, averaging 10.1 per game. Therien also is first in the Patriot League in field goal percentage with 57.4 percent.
- Therien also ranks nationally, ranking 22nd in double-doubles, and 24th in rebounds per game.
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Kelly Ratigan ranks fourth in the Patriot League in three-pointers made per game, averaging 2.1 three-pointers per game.
By The Numbers
- The Greyhounds this season are 8-2 on the year when they lead going into halftime.
- They are also 10-2 when leading in rebounds, with their lone losses coming against St. Bonaventure and Bucknell
- Loyola is 13-1 when they shoot better from the field than their opponents, but 0-10 when their opponents finish with a better shooting percentage.
- When scoring at least 60 points, the Greyhounds have gone 10-1 on the season.
- The Greyhounds defense ranks third in the Patriot League, allowing just 60.8 points per game this season. They also rank second in the Patriot League in turnovers this season, averaging just 13.8 per game.
- Loyola's depth has been a big factor to their success this season, as they are 8-4 on the season when they lead the game in bench scoring.
- They have also been clutch down the stretch, going 4-1 in games decided by 3 points or less.
