THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran opens its 2009-10 women's basketball season with lots of question marks, and with an equal measure of high hopes. The Lutes host Corban College in the season opener at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The following night, PLU heads to Portland, Ore., to take on the Concordia Cavaliers with tipoff slated for 5:30 p.m.

A NEW LOOK: The 2009-10 version of Pacific Lutheran women's basketball will be strikingly different from recent years, at least in terms of personnel. Gone from the team are second team all-conference post Emily Voorhies and honorable mention all-conference guards Nikki Scott and Trinity Gibbons. Gone from a 14-11 team are players who accounted for 75 percent of the points and 68 percent of the rebounds. On the other hand, PLU does return a young and hungry core group who hope to get the newcomers adjusted quickly to the rigors of Division III and Northwest Conference basketball.

TOP RETURNEES: The returness to this year's team are senior posts Meghan Dowling and Tracy Goehri, junior wing Jordan Westering, and sophomore guards Sarah Backstrom and Melissa Pixler. Backstrom and Westering both averaged 5.0 points per game last season and Westering was the team's best three-point shooter, hitting 38 percent of her attempts. Backstrom had eight starts last year and Pixler started five games, averaging 2.3 points per game. Dowling and Goehri have been solid contributors off the bench throughout their PLU careers.

TOP NEWCOMERS: You could list all seven newcomers as "key newcomers," because there are plenty of holes to be filled and plenty of games to be played. Mandy Wall, a 5-9 junior transfer from Clark College, has moved into the point guard slot held so capably last year by Nikki Scott, now a PLU assistant coach. She is being pushed by frosh Kamy Harris and Danika Goodwin. Of the seven new players, six play either guard or wing, and all are battling for playing time. Shelly Kilcup is a good shooter who should give the Lutes plenty of shooting depth, while Ayla Mull and Mackenzie Bieker are two other players who can play either in the backcourt or on the wing. Sophomore transfer Kelsey Olson is a 6-1 post who will give the Lutes needed depth in the paint.

DIFFICULT PRE-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE: A very difficult pre-conference schedule will make it a little tougher on PLU this year, but third-year head coach Kelly Robinson is confident that games against such teams at NCAA Division I Seattle University and Division II power Seattle Pacific will help fire her team for the conference season. "We like to think of our preseason schedule as a 'welcome to the big time'," Robinson said. "It is difficult if not impossible to schedule quality NCAA Division III teams in the preseason with our Pacific Northwest location because the closest Division III schools are in California. So when the opportunity presented itself to face programs of such high caliber like Seattle University and Seattle Pacific, we took it. I have a lot of respect for both programs and think the challenge will prepare us well for the conference season." In addition to the two Seattle schools, PLU has scheduled Division II Saint Martin's, NAIA opponents Corban College, Concordia University-Portland and Evergreen State from the Cascade Collegiate Conference, and Division III non-conference opponents Cal Lutheran and Chapman. While the results from some of those early season games may not look good in terms of the win-loss column, those contests should help prepare the Lutes for a list of Northwest Conference foes that includes defending NCAA Division III champion George Fox.

HIGH EXPECTATIONS: All of those things considered, it's probably not surprising that NWC coaches picked the Lutes to place seventh in the league. Still, Robinson is confident that this year's group can respond to the challenges and make its mark in the NWC. "In the preseason we are picked to finish seventh in the league. We have a much higher goal for ourselves."

- PLU -