WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bentley University women's basketball season will tip off this weekend with the Falcons competing in the Roberts Wesleyan University Redhawks Classic in Rochester, N.Y.

The Falcons, who are coming off a 22-10 season that included the program's record 37th NCAA Division II tournament berth, will open against Daemen University Friday at 6 pm in a matchup of 2023 conference tournament champions. Bentley repeated as Northeast-10 champs and Daemen did the same in the East Coast Conference.

Action will continue Saturday with Bentley, number 18 in the WBCA Division II preseason coaches poll, taking on the host team at 3:15 pm.

 Fourth-year head coach C White, whose involvement with the program dates back to 1997 (four years as a player, 18 as an assistant to Hall of Famer Barbara Stevens), returns six of the top seven scorers from last year's team. The lone exception is Kari Brekke, one of the Northeast-10's most accurate three-point shooters over the past two seasons.

White's projected starting five heading into the opener is the same group she went with in the NCAA regional semifinals against Assumption last March. Senior Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) and junior Amanda Kabantu (Portland, Maine/Portland HS), both starters in all 32 last year, will be in there along with graduate guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Cedar Grove HS) and sophomores Julia Elie (Rockland/Rockland HS) and Cassidy Yeomans (Marion/Tabor Academy).

Whitmore is coming off a strong season in which she led the team in most statistical categories, including scoring (12.8), rebounds (6.9), assists (78) and steals (39). Thompson, whose career resume includes 77 starts and 160 three-pointers, scored nearly 11 a game and was amongst the Northeast-10 leader in treys with 53.

Kabantu, a member of the 2023 NE10 All-Defensive Team, has started every game over the last two seasons and scored 6.3 a game last season. Yeomans sank 30 three-pointers as a freshman and the 6-2 Elie had averages of 5.6 points and 2.7 rebounds.

 The nine-man rotation also projects to include sophomore post Ciara Norman (Roebling, N.J./Life Center Academy), senior guard Brooke Obar (North Yarmouth, Maine/Greely HS) junior forward Kylie DuCharme (Wilmington/Wilmington HS) and freshman guard Niya Morgen (Swampscott/St. Mary's HS).

Others who'll be vying for playing time are sophomore forward Mikela Cooper (Surprise, Ariz./Valley Vista HS), Andrene Thomas (Brooklyn N.Y./Long Island City HS) and Quincy Ji (Beijing, China/Long Island Lutheran HS), freshman guard Nora Saluja (Rocky Hill, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall) and junior transfer Grace Klonsky (Lynnfield/Lynnfield HS).

Daemen, an NCAA Division II tournament team annually since 2020, lost two of the three All-East Coast Conference honorees from last year's 20-5 squad. The returnee is second-teamer Alahna Paige, a senior guard who averaged 10.0 points and delivered 79 assists. Returning starters also include senior forwards Natalie Angeletti (7.3 PPG, 5.9 RPG) and Kaytlyn Matz (5.8 PPG). The Wildcats were eighth in Division II in scoring defense (54.7), three spots behind Bentley.

Roberts Wesleyan struggled through a 4-19 season a year ago but returns seven of its top eight scorers. Senior guard Danielle DiCintio led the team in scoring (11.0) and connected from three 61 times. Graduate guard Georgia Haverlock averaged 10.7 points and 6.7 rebounds, and sophomore Grace Galgano finished her rookie season with a 10.1 scoring average and 37 blocks.

After returning from western New York, Bentley will prepare for Wednesday's Northeast-10 and home opener against New Haven.