CHICAGO - The Loyola University Chicago women's basketball team plays host to Richmond this Thursday (Jan. 23) at Gentile Arena. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. on ESPN+ with Scott Sudikoff (play by play) and Stephond Robinson (commentary) calling the action live. 

PROMOTIONS

• The team will be celebrating its annual Pride Game for its matchup with Richmond.
• The first 100 students at the game will receive a free box combo courtesy of Raising Cane's.

QUICK HITS

• With an 11-8 overall record and a 3-5 mark in conference play, the Ramblers have 10 regular season games left on the 2024-25 schedule.
• The Maroon and Gold most recently snapped a three-game skid with a 66-63 win over Saint Louis this past Saturday on the road.
• Loyola used its best clip from beyond the arc (47-percent) since shooting 49-percent against South Carolina State on Nov. 30.
• Emma Theodorsson lit up the floor with a season-high 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting. She was 4-of-7 from deep for a season-best in made threes.
• The junior was responsible for all 10 of LUC's first points of the ball game, going 4-of-4 from the floor with two 3-pointers to set the tone.
• Theodorsson—who leads the team in scoring with 10.2 points per game—is one of the league's most accurate free throw shooters. Her 88-percent clip at the charity stripe ranks No. 4 in the A-10. She been perfect at the line in eight games for Loyola this season, including a 7-of-7 performance in LUC's win over Kentucky State. Notably, Loyola's 27 made free throws in that game are tied for the most of any team in the A-10 thus far. 
• Thoranna Kika Hodge-Carr—who played the full 40 minutes for the first time at Loyola—notched the first double-double of her career with 13 points and a career-high 11 rebounds against SLU. She capped her performance by dishing out five assists.
• Highly touted freshman Roisin Grandberry made her first ever appearance wearing the Maroon and Gold after recovering from an injury.
• Following Thursday, Loyola Chicago hits the road for meeting with Rhode Island on Sunday, Jan. 26.

RAMBLER BITES

• Five letterwinners return to the roster, including two starters. The Ramblers welcome 10 newcomers, including six freshman and four transfers.
• Head coach Allison Guth is in her third season at the helm of Loyola. 2024-25 is her ninth year as a head coach after spending the first six seasons at Yale.
• Loyola Chicago's nine-win improvement from 2022-23 to 2023-24 was the second best turnaround in the Atlantic 10.
• The Ramblers named returners Sitori Tanin, Thoranna Kika Hodge-Carr, and Kira Chivers team captains for the 2024-25 season.
• A trio of 2023-24 Ramblers inked professional contracts overseas this past summer: Emma Nolan (Bad Homburg, Germany), Sophia Nolan (Dillingen Diamonds, Germany), and Sam Galanopoulos (Esperides Kallitheas, Greece). There are now seven former Ramblers who have played pro basketball.

SCOUTING THE RICHMOND SPIDERS

• Head Coach Aaron Roussell has a 109-62 (.637) record in six seasons at Richmond and is 421-184 (.696) throughout his 21 year career which began at UChicago in 2004.
• Last season, the Spiders won the Atlantic 10 Championship before falling to No. 7 Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
• This season, UR is 15-5 overall and 6-1 in the Atlantic 10. Most recently, the team beat VCU at home, 75-42.
• Richmond boasts the third-best field goal percentage in the nation at 50-percent and ranks second in 3-point percentage at 40-percent. Only Kansas State and UConn have more efficient offenses overall, while Notre Dame leads the nation in 3-point shooting.
• Rachel Ullstrom, the A-10's 2023-24 Sixth Woman of the Year, ranks No. 27 in the nation with a 57-percent clip from the floor.

ALL-TIME AGAINST RICHMOND

• Loyola Chicago is searching for its first-ever win over the Spiders as it trails, 3-0, in the all-time series.
• The two teams met twice last season, including in the quarterfinals of the A-10 Championship.
• No. 8 Loyola Chicago fell, 70-54, to top-seeded Richmond at the Henrico Sports and Events Center.
• Sam Galanopoulos dropped 22 points (9-17 FG, 3-8 3PT) in her final game wearing the Maroon and Gold.
• In the first meeting of 2023-24, Loyola came back from being down 16 points and briefly led Richmond in the fourth quarter, but ultimately suffered a 75-71 defeat on the road.
• Galanopoulos' game-high 21 points led three other Ramblers in double figures.

LAST TIME OUT

• Loyola snapped a three-game skid with a thrilling 66-63 road win over Saint Louis Saturday night at Chaifetz Arena. Loyola turned in a season-best 52-percent clip from 3-point range while a trio of Ramblers scored in double figures to secure the win.

 ATLANTIC 10 PRESEASON POLL

• The defending champion Richmond Spiders were voted as the Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball 2024-25 season favorite in the league's annual Preseason Poll. Saint Joseph's was chosen second in the poll with 211 points and four first place votes. After a record setting 2023-24 where they went 15-3 in the Atlantic 10 and won 23 games, George Mason, with 188 votes, rounded out the top-3.

RETURNING RAMBLERS

• Back for another season is graduate student Sitori Tanin, Loyola's 6-foot-2 force in the paint. Tanin racked up 45 blocks (1.5 per game) last season to lead the team and rank No. 4 in the A-10. She posted at least one block in 23 games, including a career-high five vs. Saint Joseph's on Jan. 31.
• Graduate student guard Thoranna Kika Hodge-Carr is ready to pick up where she left off in 2023-24. The Keflavik, Iceland, native averaged 5.6 points per game last season to rank fifth on the team. Likewise, she tallied 3.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game to rank third and fourth on the team, respectively.
• Kira Chivers, who averaged 19.0 minutes and 3.5 points per game to rank sixth and seventh on the team, respectively, is looking to make noise this season. The Chicago native made 33-of-96 attempts from the field for a 34-percent clip. Additionally, she was 19-of-46 (41-percent) from deep.
• Between Chivers, Tanin, and Hodge-Carr, Loyola Chicago returns 562 points.
• Also back and looking to take a step this season are Destiny Jackson and Audrey Deptula.

FRESH FACES

• Guth signed 10 newcomers to her 2024-25 roster this past offseason. In terms of freshman, Yasmyn Palmer, a 6-foot-2 forward from Southfield, Mich., will help the Maroon and Gold in the post. She earned All-Conference, All-Catholic, and Detroit Free Press All-Area accolades playing for Cranbrook Kingswood.
• Roisin Grandberry, who's originally from Arlington Heights, Ill., will also help in the paint as a 6-foot-3 forward. Believed to be Loyola's highest-rated recruit ever, Grandberry was tabbed No. 74 in the 2024 espnW HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings (No. 16 forward). Additionally, the freshman was ranked No. 6 in the Prep Girls Hoops Illinois class of 2024.
• Alexa Kinas, a 5-foot-8 guard, was a tri-sport student-athlete at Kaukauna High School (Wisconsin). The freshman racked up 20-plus All-Conference awards and 12 varsity letters playing basketball, golf, track, and cross country at Kaukauna.
• Coming from Werribee, Australia, Holly Dolny stands as a 5-foot-8 guard. Dolny played club basketball for Wyndham Basketball under Gerard Hillier in Werribee and competed with Recruiting Boost, an Australian travel team, before coming to Rogers Park.
• Two-time MHSAA DI State Champion Kendall Hendrix earned All-League honors and All-Academic plaudits at West Bloomfield (Michigan) before joining the Maroon and Gold. Hendrix was also named a 2024 McDonald's All American Games Nominee her senior season.
• Rounding out LUC's freshman class is Brooklyn Vaughn, a native of Maumee, Ohio. The 6-foot-0 forward was named to the DII All-Ohio First Team in 2022-23 and Second Team in 2023-24. Vaughn collected District 7 Player of the Year, TRAC Player of the Year, and TRAC First Team accolades at Central Catholic.
• As for Loyola's incoming transfers, Guth scouted the country for talent that would make an immediate impact on the team. Rosalie Mercille, who transferred to Loyola after playing for Monmouth last season, averaged 16.8 minutes, 2.0 rebounds, and 6.4 points per game in 2023-24.
• Emma Theodorsson is a junior guard/forward who played two seasons at Bucknell. She averaged 27.6 minutes, 4.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.3 blocks, 0.4 steals and 10.4 points per game through those two seasons. Theodorsson was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week twice and raked in Patriot League All-Rookie Team honors after averaging 7.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game her freshman year.
• Jess Finney, a senior shooting guard who brings a wealth of skill to Loyola's wing, played one season at Washington and two at San Diego before joining the Ramblers. The Phoenix native was third on the team (San Diego) last season in 3-point percentage as she cashed in 32-percent (26-for-81) of her shots from beyond the arc.
• The Ramblers' final transfer is Naelle Bernard, a former standout guard from Duquesne. A native of Paris, Bernard started 23 of the 30 games she played during the 2023-24 season. Likewise, she averaged 9.4 points per game, shooting 39-percent from the field and 38-percent from 3-point range.
• In addition to student-athletes, Guth added Assistant Coach Mai-Loni Henson and Director of Basketball Operations, George Buaku, to the Ramblers' team.
• Henson previously coached one season at Colorado College, helping the Tigers achieve their first 20-win season in 40 years and an appearance in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Championship Game. 
• Buaku comes to Rogers Park after serving as the Director of Player Development and Basketball Analytics for Sixth Man San Diego since 2020, a nonprofit basketball organization. Buaku has also worked as an Associate Analyst with HD Intelligence, offering strategic insights through opponent scouting, postgame analysis, and transfer portal management.     

BUY TICKETS NOW!
Catch every women's basketball game at Gentile Arena with a season ticket package! Season ticket options include reserved courtside seating for $180/seat and general admission seating for $81/seat. Single-game tickets are $10/each.

Courtside season tickets are the only reserved seats available. Courtside seats are located across from the team benches in front of Sections 108 and 110. The online system will automatically place you in the best courtside seats available. Please contact the Loyola ticket office at (773) 508-9653 to discuss specific seat locations. Click here to purchase. 

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