Nov. 14, 2008
Center Valley, Pa.--Six Patriot League teams commence the 2008-09 season on Friday, while the remaining two open their seasons on Saturday. All eight teams begin their campaigns with non-League battles. Half of the Patriot League teams will open the season at home, while the other half will begin on the road. Among the four road teams is Lafayette, which will play in the Preseason WNIT.
Patriot League Women's Basketball Release 11.14.08 
2008-09 Women's Basketball Season Tips Off
The 2008-09 women's basketball season will commence on Friday with a slate featuring six non-League games. Navy, Colgate and Lehigh will open the season at home, while Army, Bucknell and American will begin the season on the road. Holy Cross and Lafayette will start their seasons on Saturday.
Lafayette will be the only team playing in a tournament during the first weekend of the season. The Leopards will play their first three games in the Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament, starting at Middle Tennessee State.
The Patriot League portion of the season will start on Saturday, Jan. 12 with all four teams in action.
Holy Cross Picked First In Preseason Poll
Holy Cross was selected first in the 2008-09 Patriot League Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll with 90 points and eight first-place votes. Lehigh earned six first-place votes and accumulated 83 total points to take second in the poll, while American received the two remaining first-place votes and with 75 points was picked third in the poll. Rounding out this year's selections were, in order, Army (60 points), Bucknell (53), Lafayette (38), Navy (35) and Colgate (14).
In other preseason poll voting, a five-member All-Patriot League Team and Preseason Player of the Year were selected. Holy Cross junior Briana McFadden was tabbed the 2008-09 Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year and was a member of the preseason All-League Team. McFadden was the Patriot League Player of the Year in 2007-08 and a First-Team All-Patriot League selection. Also on this year's preseason All-League squad were Army senior Alex McGuire, Holy Cross junior Bethany O'Dell, Lehigh junior Alex Ross and Navy sophomore Cassie Consedine. McGuire was named First-Team All-Patriot League a year ago, while O'Dell, Ross and Consedine were all second-team selections. Consedine was also tabbed the Patriot League Rookie of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Rookie Team.
Patriot League Notebook
Patriot League Live
The Patriot League television schedule for women's basketball is highlighted by the League's contract with the ESPN Networks. One Patriot League regular season game will be televised on ESPNU. The Patriot League Women's Basketball Championship is set for broadcast on ESPNU at 6 p.m. on March 11. The women's basketball television schedule also includes nine non-League contests and 21 League affairs. The non-League slate begins on Tuesday when Holy Cross hosts Boston College in a contest broadcast by WCTR in Central Massachusetts. The highlight of the women's non-League television slate comes on Dec. 14, when Army faces Rutgers at Madison Square Garden in an ESPNU-televised contest. The women make an appearance on ESPNU during the League slate when Lehigh visits American on Feb. 7. The network will also carry Navy's visit to Army at Noon on Jan. 24, a game that will lead into the American and Holy Cross men's contest at 2 p.m. Like the men's side, every Lafayette and Lehigh women's basketball League home contest will be televised. Every men's and women's game in League play will also be shown on the Patriot League All-Access broadband package, which is available for $9.95 per month by clicking here or going to www.patriotleague.com.
Tournament Play
Patriot League teams will participate in nine different tournaments during the regular season. A few highlights in tourney action are the Preseason WNIT, Maggie Dixon Classic and Christmas City Classic.
Lafayette accepted its first-ever invite to play in the Preseason WNIT. The Leopards' first opponent will be Middle Tennessee State with that contest taking place Saturday, Nov. 15. Army will participate in the Maggie Dixon Classic, which will be held at Madison Square Garden for the second year in a row on Sunday, Dec. 14. Also for the second-consecutive year Army will face Rutgers in a classic dedicated to former Army Head Coach Maggie Dixon. Lehigh is the only Patriot League team to host a tournament on its home court doing so Monday-Tuesday, Dec. 29-30 with the Christmas City Classic. Participants include North Florida, La Salle and Valparaiso.
2009 Patriot League Tournament
The 2009 Patriot League Women's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinal and Semifinals will be held in Bethlehem, Pa. at Lehigh University's Stabler Arena. Lehigh has previously hosted the tournament in 1992, 97, 05. The tournament is a full-field event with all eight teams competing for the championship title. Quarterfinal action will take place on Saturday, March 7, with semifinal games on Sunday, March 8. The 2009 Patriot League Women's Basketball Championship game will be played on Wednesday, March 11 at the site of the highest remaining seed. The Patriot League champion will earn the Patriot League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Stat Watch
Three student-athletes head into the 2008-09 season already with a place in the Patriot League record books. Army senior Alex McGuire is the only active player with more than 1,000 career points, joining 57 others that reached that milestone in League history. McGuire has accumulated 1,056 points in three years and ranks 48th on the League's all-time list. After just one year of playing, Navy sophomore Cassie Consedine is already tied for 19th on the Patriot League career blocks chart with 72. The all-time record for blocks was broken last year by Bucknell's Hope Foster (2005-08), who had 344. Holy Cross' Bethany O'Dell currently appears in two different career categories as she enters her junior campaign. O'Dell's 150 career three-point field goals made rank 14th on the list. The top mark is 245 held by Navy's Courtney Davidson (2001-04). She is also second on the League's career three-point field goal percentage list at a .404 (150-371) clip. Fordham's Heather Donlon (1991-93) is the all-time leader at .429 (183-417). A player must have made a minimum of 150 three-pointers to appear on the list.
Cross Country
Patriot League rosters for the 2008-09 season include student-athletes from 31 of the 50 states.
Team Notebooks
American American kicks off the season on Friday at NJIT before opening the home slate against Drexel. The Eagles tuned up for the year with an exhibition win over Catholic University. Matt Corkery, who previously served as an assistant at American, takes over a program that went 18-14 a year ago and finished atop the Patriot League regular season standings. The Eagles return two starters and eight letter-winners from last year's squad, including Talicia Jackson. Jackson scored 9.2 points per game and averaged 4.4 rebounds per contest.
Army Veteran head coach Dave Magarity returns three starters and eight letter-winners from last year's team that finished 18-12 and finished third in the Patriot League. Alex McGuire, who averaged 11.8 points per outing last season, is the top returning scorer for the Black Knights. Army will open the season with a pair of road games. The Black Knights will travel to Wagner for a Friday match-up with the Seahawks. Army will then head to Columbus, Ohio to battle Ohio State on Sunday.
Bucknell The fifth-seeded Bison advanced to the NCAA Tournament by claiming last season's Patriot League Championship, becoming the lowest seeded team in Patriot League history to win the championship. Two starters and six letter-winners return for head coach Kathy Keforjaka. The Bison open the season on Friday in Fairfax, Va. against the Patriots of George Mason.
Colgate Colgate returns four starters for second-year hea coach Pam Bass. The Raiders finished eighth in the Patriot League standings a year ago, but 10 letter-winners return to the court this season. Colgate looks to start the season on a winning note at home, hosting Mount St. Mary's on Friday. The Raiders will then hit the road for a Sunday showdown at Rider.
Holy Cross The preseason favorites in the Patriot League commence the 2008-09 season at home against Yale. Head coach Bill Gibbons returns three starters fromlast year's 19-13 unit, including a pair of talented juniors in the backcourt. Briana McFaden was named the Preseason Patriot League Player of the Year after averaging 13.5 points per game as a sophomore. Joining her in the backcourt is fellow Preseason All-Patriot League pick Bethany O'Dell, who chipped in with 11.4 points an 4.6 rebounds per contest a year ago.
Lafayette The Leopards will open the season in the prestigious Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament against Middle Tennessee State. Lafayette returns 11 letter-winners, including four starters, from last year's squad that finished 14-16. Senior guard Cristin Zavocki is the top returning scorer for the Leopards after churning out 9.3 points per game as a junior.
Lehigh Preseason All-Patriot League pick Alex Ross will lead a veteran Lehigh squad. The Mountain Hawks return eight letter-winners, including all five starters, from a team that finished 18-3 a year ago. Lehigh finished tied for third in the Patriot League with a 9-5 League record. Ross returns after a season in which she averaged 10.8 points per game and made 37 percent of her three-pointers. The Mountain Hawks will host Penn on Friday before traveling to take on Saint Joseph's on Sunday.
Navy First-year head coach Stephanie Pemper is welcomed to the Navy campus by five returning starters, including Preseason All-Patrot League selection Cassie Consedine. Consedine averaged 13.7 points and 8.4 rebounds per game as a freshman last season. The Mids lost just one player off of last year's team that finished 7-23. Navy will host Ohio in its season debut Friday before traveling to Washington, D.C. for a Sunday pairing with Howard.
