McDaniel Women’s Basketball tips off their 2016-2017 season in the Gill Center tonight at 6:00 p.m. against York (Pa.).
Tonight’s game is part of a three game, first week of the season and a 25 game season overall. 20 of the games will be within the Centennial Conference, taking on opponents like 2015-2016 conference champions Muhlenberg and second-ranked Gettysburg.
The Green Terror have been ranked third, tied with Haverford, in the Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll. Ranked first, Muhlenberg has been picked to repeat last season’s championship.
The Mules defeated McDaniel 83-59 in the conference championship game in Allentown last year, one day following the Terror’s 79-62 win over the Bullets in the semifinal game.
McDaniel finished their 2015-2016 bid in the first round of the ECAC Tournament with a loss to Waynesburg, 78-73.
Looking to start strong, the Green Terror will start this year with three home games before traveling to start conference play at Johns Hopkins, ranked sixth, on Nov. 22 at 6:00 p.m. The first conference home game will be against Dickinson, ranked fifth, on Nov. 29 at 7:30 p.m. to round out November play.
December will see four games prior to the winter break, taking place on Dec. 1, 3, 6, and 10. Three of the four games will be in conference.
McDaniel’s schedule will return in full swing on Jan. 4, kicking off a month of 10 games. The Terror will set out to play both the Mules and the Bullets in back-to-back games on Jan. 14 and Jan. 18.
This season’s tough schedule will see McDaniel hosting the Gettysburg and Muhlenberg on Feb. 15 and Feb. 18. The 1:00 p.m. contest on the 18th is the final regular season game currently on McDaniel’s schedule.
McDaniel, who finished last season at 21-7 (15-3 Centennial), is without back-to-back Centennial Player of the Year Lindsey Nichols as they start this season and will look to last season’s returning stars to lead on the court.
Leading the team this season are seniors Sarah Bach and Karli Zeps, along with graduate student Alyssa March. The three captains are at the helm of a team boasting nine freshmen, four sophomores, and three juniors.
Behind Nichols, Zeps led the team with 326 points last season, averaging 12.1 per game. The then-junior played in 27 of McDaniel’s 28 games, leading the team with Nichols.
As a team, the Green Terror averaged 61.5 points per game last season, shooting 35 percent on field goals and 30.1 percent on threes, as well as 69.1 percent on free throws. Over the 28 games, there was an average of 35.3 rebounds and 12.4 assists.
Tonight’s game against York (Pa.) is set to tip off at 6:00 p.m. in Gill Center. The McDaniel Tipoff Tournament will take place over Friday and Saturday this weekend with games scheduled for both days.
