WALTHAM, Mass. – Five of the top nine from last year's 28-4 team are gone, but there are still high expectations for the 2018-19 Bentley University women's basketball team which launches Barbara Stevens' 33rd season at the helm this weekend at the Merrimack Conference Challenge.

The Falcons, who were tabbed the preseason favorite in the Northeast-10's Northeast Division and received number eight national rankings from both the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and D2SIDA, will face Concordia College (N.Y.) Friday at 7:30 pm and will meet up with Georgian Court University Saturday at 7 pm.

Both games from Merrimack's Bert Hammel Court can be seen live and free on NE10NOW.tv.

The two returning Falcons with significant starting experience are senior center Victoria Lux (Arundel, Maine/Thornton Academy), with her resume including 86 starts, and senior guard Megan Lewis (Sevenoaks, England), who started all 35 games as a freshman before an injury sidelined her as a sophomore.

Lux, who'll be playing her 100th career game in her 2018-19 debut, earned first-team All-Northeast-10 honors last year when she was one of only four conference players to average at least 13 points and nine rebounds.

The versatile Lewis was at her best during the postseason last winter when she led the Falcons with 16.6 points, eight rebounds and 2.2 assists. She shot 54 percent overall and buried 13 of 29 from three-point land.

Returning forwards include junior forward Monica Viapiano (Holden/Holy Name HS) and sophomore forward Marissa Fontaine (Franklin/Bishop Feehan HS). Viapiano was the team's top scoring non-starter last year when she produced 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds a game. Fontaine was second on the team in threes (34) and second in the NE10 in three-point accuracy (.410).

The losses hit the Falcons hardest on the perimeter, but Stevens (1,011 career wins) has several returnees ready to step up and take advantage of the opportunity. They include senior guard Amy McConnell (South Windsor, Conn./ South Windsor HS), junior guard Maddy Springfield (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant HS) and sophomore guard Katie Meriggioli (Waunakee, Wis./Edgewood HS).

In addition, Stevens' roster has been bolstered by the return of junior forward Gabrielle Brooks (Mount Kisco, N.Y./Choate Rosemary Hill), sophomore center Erin Nolan (Binghamton, N.Y./Susquehanna Valley HS) and junior forward Julia Ford (Charlton/Nobles and Greenough) from injury, as well as the addition of freshmen Kolleen Bouchard (Houlton, Maine/Houlton HS), the Maine Gatorade High School Player of the Year, and Hartlee Meier (Southington, Conn./Marianapolis Prep).

Concordia (N.Y.) returns half of the eight players who started at least ten games during a 4-24 winter a year ago. That list features junior guard Nicole Nicholson, who made 33 triples and scored at the rate of 8.8 a game, and junior center Amiya Rankins, who scored 6.9 a game.

Georgian Court, coming off a 5-21 season, lost two of its double-figure scorers but returns nine players, including senior forward Destiny Thompson. She led the lions in rebounds (6.7) and was second in scoring (12.6). Among the returnees, the next most productive was senior guard Carna Prokic, who had 114 assists, 55 steals and a 9.3 scoring average.

Bentley, which plays its first four and six of the first seven away from home, will open its Northeast-10 schedule Wednesday at reigning East Region champion Stonehill College. There will also be a visit to Queens College before the Nov. 20 home opener against Assumption College.