Matchup                    Towson (4-4) vs. Loyola (1-7)
When                         Thursday, Dec. 4 at 11 a.m.
Where                        SECU Arena | Towson, Md.
TV/Stream                Monumental Sports Network | FloCollege
Live Stats                 TowsonTigers.com
Series                        Towson leads the all-time series 29-14
 
TOWSON, Md. – Following their three-game road stand, the Towson University women's basketball team returns to SECU Arena to host Loyola on Thursday at 11 a.m. in the team's annual STEM Day game.
 
The game will be streamed live on FloCollege and simulcast on Monumental Sports Network. Live stats can be found on TowsonTigers.com.
 
Scouting the Greyhounds
Loyola enters Thursday at 1-7 overall with losses against three common opponents of Towson: Maryland, Virginia Tech and Delaware. The Greyhounds have also faced Drexel, who the Tigers will play later this season, and lost 66-57 in Philadelphia. Graduate forward Lex Therien, a 2024 First Team All-League selection, leads Loyola in 2025-26 as the team's lone preseason all-league selection in the Patriot League after averaging 15.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per game last season. The Greyhounds were picked to finish third with three first place votes in the preseason poll.
 
Last Time Out
Against Delaware on Sunday, Towson shot 61.3% from the field in the first half and took a 42-38 lead into the break. The Tigers and Blue Hens traded the lead back and forth through the third, before a 14-point Delaware run in the fourth quarter run allowed UD to pull ahead for a 91-80 win at the Bob Carpenter Center.
 
Delaware nabbed 18 offensive rebounds compared to Towson's eight. The Blue Hens outscored the Tigers, 18-5, on second chance points off offensive boards. Delaware shot 70.0% (7-10) from three in the game and was 6-8 in the second half from behind the arc. The Blue Hens scored 53 second-half points to Towson's 38.
 
Shooters Shoot
Towson has hit at least eight threes in six of their eight games this season. Compared to last season, when the Black & Gold did so twice in 32 games.
 
The Tigers have five players this season averaging at least one made three per game: Tilda Sjökvist (2.5), Zoli Khalil (1.4), Thalia Shepard (1.4), India Johnston (1.3) and Viki Matulevicius (1.0). Johnston (1.6) was the lone player on last year's squad to eclipse that mark over the full season.
 
Among the Nation's Best
Towson forward Kayla Morris has anchored the Towson defense, averaging 3.12 blocks per game in eight games this season. That average is tied for fifth among Division I leaders, and her 25 total blocks rank fifth among the nation's leaders.
 
Senior guard Tilda Sjökvist is tied for 10th in Division I with a 52.63% (20-38) three-point field goal percentage. Her 20 threes rank 59th among national leaders, and her 2.50 triples per game rank 83rd in the nation. The Swede's 32 assists are tied for 79th among all D-I players (through Nov. 30).
 
Weekly Honors
Viki Matulevicius earned the CAA Rookie of the Week nod on Nov. 17 after amassing 14 points on 5-6 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-4 mark from behind the arc in the Tigers' Nov. 16 win over Coppin State in 19 minutes off the bench. She added two rebounds and a block in the victory.
The redshirt freshman averaged 6.3 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.7 assists in the Tigers' 2-1 week, shooting 41.2% (7-17) from the field and 55.6% (5-9) from deep.
 
The Returners
India Johnston, the Tigers' top scorer from a season ago, returns after averaging 12.5 points, 2.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game on 37.4% shooting. Semaya Turner also returns, who led the Black & Gold with 34 steals last season, averaging 1.1 per game. Shariah Baynes will don the Black & Gold in her sophomore season after averaging 21 minutes in 32 games during her freshman campaign. Masyn Marchbanks rounds out the backcourt returners, who played just two games last season before missing the rest of the season due to injury.
 
In the front court, forward Kayla Morris returns after pacing the Tigers with 1.9 blocks and 1.3 steals per game last year.
 
Transfer Class
The 2025-26 Towson women's basketball transfer class is highlighted by the trio of upperclassmen guards Tilda Sjökvist, Zoli Khalil and Thalia Shepard.
 
Sjökvist comes from Mizzou, where she averaged 1.6 points, 1.4 assists and 1.1 rebounds in 9.9 minutes per game for the Tigers last season. Prior to Mizzou, the Swede played for Presbyterian, where she was named the 2023-24 Big South Tournament MVP and an All-Big South Second Team selection, averaging 12.2 points, 3.5 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. Her 1,227 total minutes played in her last season with the Blue Hose are the most in the team's Division I history and her 169 made field goals are the third-most in Presbyterian's history.
 
Khalil joins the Tigers out of VCU, where she led the Rams last season with a 44.6% three-point field goal percentage. She averaged 8.5 points per game, which ranked second on the team. The Virginia native posted a career-high 21 points at George Washington in the Rams' 65-56 win on Jan. 22, 2025. The junior added 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in 25.5 minutes per game. Khalil shot 43.5% from the field and 63% from the free-throw line.
 
Shepard joins the Black & Gold from Merrimack, where she led the Warriors with 13.6 points per game. The Boston native posted a career-high 27 vs. Siena in the second round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship on March 13, 2025. The junior added 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.1 assists in 30.7 minutes per game. Shepard shot 39.4% from the field, 20.2% from deep and 73.2% from the free throw line.
 
Other transfers include redshirt freshman guard Viki Matulevicius, who did not see action last season at South Dakota, and graduate forward/center Hannah Dereje. Dereje joins the Tigers from Elon, where she averaged 3.9 points on 48.4% shooting, adding 2.2 rebounds in 9.9 minutes per game.
 
League Honors
Senior guard India Johnston earned a 2025-26 Preseason All-CAA Second Team selection after pacing the Tigers with 12.5 points per game on 37.4% shooting from the field, adding a team-best 2.5 assists. The Delaware product was efficient from behind the arc, hitting 52 triples at a 34.7% clip. She added 2.5 rebounds and 0.7 steals in 34 minutes per game in 32 games last season.
 
Johnston shot more efficiently in league play during her junior campaign, shooting 38.7% from the field and 35.9% from three-point range against CAA opponents. The senior matched her career-high of 24 in the second round of the CAA Championship last March, accounting for 45.3% of the Tigers' points in the win over the No. 6 Elon Phoenix.
 
International Flavor
Two young Tigers got a taste for International Basketball Federation (FIBA) basketball this summer.
 
True freshman Asya Lara Barnes played for Turkey in the U18 Women's FIBA EuroBasket, where she led the field in three-point field goals made. Barnes finished seventh overall in shooting efficiency from behind the arc and led Turkey in scoring.
 
Redshirt freshman Viki Matulevicius played for Lithuania in the U20 Women's FIBA EuroBasket, helping the team reach its first-ever championship appearance. She averaged 12.2 points on 43.2% shooting, adding 2.1 assists per game, all of which ranked third on Lithuania's team.
 
Southpaws at SECU
The Tigers have three guards this season who are natural left-handed shooters: Thalia Shepard, Asya Lara Barnes and Nadeya Regala.
 
Welcoming Coaches
The Tigers have added a couple of new and one familiar face to the staff ahead of the 2025-26 season.
 
Tony DiClemente joined the staff as an assistant coach after serving as associate head coach at Army West Point last season, where he helped lead the Black Knights to 25 wins, the team's second-most in program history. Army earned a berth to the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT), where the Black Knights won their first-ever Division I postseason game, 59-58, over Bryant.
 
Nick Boboshko returns to Towson as an assistant coach and director of basketball operations, having worked in a similar role at Presbyterian last season. Prior to Presbyterian, Boboshko served as a graduate assistant at Ottawa University in Kansas. The Maryland native graduated from TU in 2023 after being a two-year manager and practice player for the Tigers from 2021-23.
 
Chris Hays joins the Tigers as the assistant director of basketball performance. Hays has held similar strength and conditioning roles at private facilities and other Division I institutions, like Jacksonville and Drexel. The Pennsylvania native previously worked with Coach Harper during her Coppin State tenure(2020-22).
 
Other staff changes include Eric Atkins' elevation to associate head coach and Lorie Khalil's assumption of the general manager role for the 2025-26 season.
 
Last Season's Recap
Towson finished the 2024-25 season at 12-20 overall and 8-10 in CAA play. The Tigers entered the CAA Championship as the No. 11 seed and topped the No. 14 Northeastern Huskies in the opening round. In the second round, the Tigers upset the No. 6 Elon Phoenix, backed by India Johnston's career-high-tying 24 points. The Tigers faced No. 3 Campbell in the quarterfinals, falling to the Camels at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C.