The Brown & White

The Lehigh women's basketball team will open the 2009-10 season when it faces off against Lipscomb University today.

The Mountain Hawks will travel to Nashville to face the Lady Bisons today and No. 20 Vanderbilt University on Sunday.

Lehigh is coming off a 2008-09 season to remember, when they finished with an overall record of 26-7 and won the Patriot League title. The Lady Bisons finished last season with a record of 8-24.

The Hawks did not have a great scout on Lipscomb, but they are prepared nonetheless.

"Since it's their first game of the year, we don't have any film or real information on what their team is looking like going into the 2009-10 season," junior guard Kristen Iafolla said. "We're going into the first game with confidence and high expectations, but at the same time we're definitely not going to take them, as well as any team, lightly this year."

"If we play how we are capable of playing, and play as team, I'm confident that we will win," sophomore forward Alexa Williams said.

The team is also excited to get the season underway after a very long preseason.

"We are all extremely excited to finally be able to play other people besides ourselves," Williams said.

The Hawks think their performance will not be affected by their trek to Nashville because of the adequate time they will be given to rejuvenate.

"The travel won't have any negative effects on the game," Iafolla said. "We are leaving early on Thursday morning, the day before we play Lipscomb, so we have plenty of time to rest and practice on their court to get used to their gym before tip-off."

The Hawks have been working hard in the offseason to prepare. They lift three days a week, play pick-up three times a week, and have a combination of speed agility, and on-court conditioning.

Lehigh is looking to build off its most successful season in program history and is back with a vengeance.

"Winning the Patriot League last year enabled us to set even higher goals for our team this season," Iafolla said. "We know that we have a target on our backs going into the year, and teams will be after us because we are the reigning champs. The coaches, as well as the players, expect a lot out of us, and we are ready to take on the challenge."

The Hawks will have all the necessary tools to improve upon last year's stellar performance with the return of several key players amongst the many contributors on the team.

Lehigh will return a solid backcourt consisting of junior Erica Prosser, senior Alex Ross, and fifth-year senior Tricia Smith.

Prosser is the reigning Patriot League Player of the year, and finished first on the team in scoring with 14.2 points per game. Ross, who was a second team All-Patriot League selection, was second on the team in scoring with 13.7 points per game. She also broke her own single-season record with 93 three-pointers last season. Smith led the team in rebound at 5.9 rebounds per game and was third on the team in scoring (7.2 points per game).

Lehigh does not just want to stop at a Patriot League title this year.

"Of course we want to win the Patriot League again like we did last year, but we don't want to just say that we made it to the NCAA tournament. We want to be able to go as far as we can in it," Iafolla said. "This year's team is a new one, completely different that last year's, and we definitely have the talent and the work ethic to make it happen."

Tip-off against Lipscomb is set for 8:30 p.m. in Nashville.