A successful season for the Yeowomen could alter the direction of the program for years to come. Second-year head coach Christa Champion, who had her “interim” tag removed this season, has lofty expectations focused on playing better defense and selecting higher percentage shots on offense.

Junior guard Cristina Briboneria believes that improvement on defense will help scoring.

“We need to play better defense as a team,” she said. “Playing better team defense will lead to more opportunities on the offensive side of the ball.”

The Yeowomen gave up 68.3 points per game last season while only putting 60.3 on the board.

Coming off a year in which the team finished eighth in the conference (2-14 NCAC, 6-19 overall) the obvious goal is to finish higher. With six players returning from last year’s roster, including three starters, the goal seems within reach, though the NCAC preseason coaches poll picked the Yeowomen to again place eighth.

“We want to wind up higher in the conference rankings,” Briboneria said. “Three, four or five would be nice.”

Despite losing top scorer Malisha Richardson to graduation, the team is confident in the abilities of the newcomers.

The Yeowomen will have two new post players, including six-foot first-year center Jessica Oram.

In the backcourt, the team adds four guards with considerable success in their high school careers. Sophomore Meg Reitz joins the team in between her stints on the field hockey and lacrosse teams.

The team will start its season this weekend as host of the Greater Cleveland Classic at Phillips Gymnasium. Other schools in the tournament include Notre Dame College of Ohio, NCAA qualifier Baldwin Wallace College and Case Western Reserve University.

Play begins tonight and continues on Saturday with games scheduled at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

With a mix of veterans and first-years, the Yeowomen’s success will revolve around hustling and getting to the ball on defense.

“If our defense gets better, we could be really good,” Briboneria said.