CHICAGO (November 18, 2019) – Coming off an emphatic win earlier in the week, Loyola University Chicago has the opportunity to match its best start in program history on Friday when it battles Kansas City.  Tip-off from inside the Swinney Center in Kansas City, Mo. is scheduled for 11 a.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Loyola jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, throttling Chicago State by a final count of 98-53 this past Tuesday at the Jones Convocation Center in Chicago, Ill.  Allison Day and Anna Brown led a quintet of Ramblers in double figures with 16 points apiece. Alexis Meyer recorded her first career double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds), while Sam Galanopoulos flirted with only the program's second triple- double (13 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists).
 
LOYOLA – KANSAS CITY – THE SERIES
Loyola and Kansas City will meet for the third time this afternoon inside the Swinney Center.  The Ramblers and Roos have split the previous two meetings.  Led by 23 points from Erica Mattingly, Kansas City picked up an 88-74 win over Loyola back on December 16, 2018 at Gentile Arena. Kat Nolan finished a perfect 8-of-8 from the field to pace the Ramblers with a career-high 17 points, but Kansas City used a second-quarter surge to open up a double-digit lead and never let the Ramblers closer than eight the rest of the way.
 
RUNNIN' ROOS
Kansas City picked up a 78-60 win over Rockhurst this past Tuesday to climb back above the .500 mark on the year at 3-2 overall.  The Roos are 3-1 this season at Swinney Center, with their only home defeat coming at the hands of Davidson, 74-64, on November 16.  Under the leadership of third-year head coach Jacie Hoyt, Kansas City was picked third in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Preseason Poll after finishing the 2018-19 season at 16-15 (8-7 WAC), the program's first winning season since 2011-12.  A Preseason All-WAC honoree, Mattingly, who earned First Team All-WAC honors last season, is off to another fast start in 2019-20, averaging a team-best 17.0 points that rank sixth in the league. She also leads the Roos in assists (4.4 apg) and shares the top spot on the team leaderboard in steals (1.6 spg).  Emily Ivory (15.2 ppg) and Tajah Foster-Walker (10.4 ppg) also both average in double figures for Hoyt's group.
 
UP NEXT
Loyola will be idle through Thanksgiving before it heads west to Portland, Oregon, where it will close out its current road trip against Portland at 4 p.m. (CT) on Sunday, December 1.