Loyola

Towson is clinging to a 27-26 lead in this cross-town rivalry, but Loyola has won the last four meetings. The No. 17 Greyhounds are flying high after bouncing then-No. 16 Delaware, 13-8, in their season opener a week ago. The Tigers (1-1) are trying to rebound from a 12-6 loss to then-No. 4 Johns Hopkins eight days ago. Here are a few factors that could play a role in the outcome at Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore on Saturday. 1) Getting more production from Loyola's midfield.

At the news conference trumpeting his hiring today, Jim Paquette did all the right things. The new Loyola athletics director kissed his wife, shook his predecessor's hand, donned a green cap and embraced the school's mascot, a 6-foot Greyhound who ambled up to the podium to greet his new boss. If the 39-year-old Paquette -- who looks young enough to suit up for Loyola -- was overwhelmed, he didn't show it. After all, this is a man who helped raise more than $200 million for Boston College athletics through the years.

Host Marist held the Loyola women's basketball team to 11 points in the first half en route to a 67-38 victory Friday night. Elizabeth Beynnon led the way for the Red Foxes (8-6, 3-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) with 17 points and outscored the entire Loyola team for the first 30 minutes. The Greyhounds fell to 6-8 and 1-2. With the game tied at four after the first four minutes, Marist went on a 20-4 run over the next 13 minutes to open up a 24-8 lead. The defense held Loyola with just one field goal during that stretch and did not allow the Greyhounds into double digits until they hit a 3-pointer with 1:13 left to bring the score to 24-11.

As if getting past two-time Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament champion Denver in Denver wasn't tough enough as evidenced by Wednesday night's 14-13 overtime decision in a semfinal of the league tournament, No. 3 Loyola gets the assignment of tangling with No. 18 Fairfield (12-3) in Friday night's final. Both teams will be playing on short rest, but that's not a concern for the Greyhounds (13-1). “I haven't worried about that stuff all year with this team,” coach Charley Toomey said Thursday evening.

This afternoon, Loyola women's soccer coach Katherine Remy Vettori will lace up her lucky sneakers - the worn blue Nikes with the yellow swoosh - and lead the streaking Greyhounds into NCAA tournament play. Loyola, which hasn't lost in 14 games, takes on West Virginia (9-6-6) in first-round College Cup action at 3 p.m. in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Greyhounds (15-4-2) have gone undefeated for two months, since Vettori changed her game shoes. "I won't switch now," said the second-year coach, whose team used three successive comeback victories to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament.

With a win against No. 13 Johns Hopkins this Saturday, Loyola (12-0) will record the best start in the program's history. None of the Greyhounds players are deluded enough to say that wrapping up the regular season with a 13-0 record isn't a consideration, but junior midfielder Davis Butts said going undefeated was never a team objective in the preseason. “It's a topic in the locker room, but it's not exactly one of our top priorities,” he said Thursday. “We look at each game individually, and that may be why we've been so successful this year.

Here is the seventh and final installment of a series that checks in with the seven Division I programs in the state to give a glimpse into the past and the future. Teams are scheduled to appear according to the chronological order in which their seasons ended. Monday's visit was with Maryland . Tuesday's visit is with Loyola. REVIEW The good: In a season in which the Greyhounds tied a school record for most consecutive wins to open a year and captured the program's first Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament crown, everything paled in comparison to capturing the university's first national championship.

Lavon Long didn't want to stay in Maryland for college, and he told Loyola assistant coach Greg Manning as much. But despite the sincerity in Long's desire to “expand his horizons” beyond Baltimore, the Greyhounds' staff apparently didn't get the message. “They were at every single game this spring and summer, from the April period to the July period,” said James Lee , Long's AAU coach with Mid-Atlantic Select. “Either Coach [ Jimmy ] Patsos himself, Coach Manning or Coach [ Luke ]

TC Coach: Brian Ellerbe (9-18), second season.Affiliation: Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference1994-95 record: 9-18 overall, 5-9 in the MAACRadio: WCAO (600 AM)Arena: Reitz Arena (3,000)Tickets: $6 reserved, $4 general admission. Call 617-5014.Starters lost: Three.Outlook: The Greyhounds took a major tumble last year, going from a MAAC championship and berth in the NCAA tournament to 9-18. And now they must cope with the loss of four-year starter B.J. Pendleton, the eighth-leading scorer in school history who averaged 14.5 points and 6.6 rebounds.