The Niagara University women's basketball team tip-off the 2013-14 season on Friday night at the Gallagher Center with a matchup against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks at 7:00 p.m.

Niagara (0-0) will try to build on the success from the last two campaigns starting  on Friday night in a game that ushers in the seventh season for Purple Eagles bench boss Kendra Faustin.  The team recorded the fifth largest turnaround in the NCAA from the 2010-12 seasons, increasing its win total by 12 (13 wins).  This past season, the team added another pair to the win column to reach 15 wins, which is the most recorded under coach Faustin.  The team has found some success in the postseason as the Purple Eagles have played in the MAAC Tournament semifinals for the last two consecutive seasons, which is a first for the program since it joined the conference in 1989-90.

This season the team will rely on a mix of old faces settling into new roles and new players getting acquainted to the college game.  Meghan McGuinness and Kelly Van Leeuwen figure to see expanded roles as both enter their junior seasons.  McGuinness, the team's leading returning scorer, averaged 9.9 ppg a year ago with a 34.7 field goal percentage.  She also led the team's perimeter shooting effort, knocking down 35.4 percent of her three-point attempts.  Van Leeuwen looks to take over some of the point guard responsibilities after sharing them in 2012-13.  The Brantford, Ont. native appeared in all 31 games last season while earning 17 starts and was second on the team with 81 assists.

Niagara also welcomes four new players into the program. Donisha Watson, a transfer from Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y, joins the Purple and White as a junior. Three players, Tiffany Corselli, Emily Granruth, and Victoria Rampado, join the team as freshmen.  

The visiting Lehigh Mountain Hawks (0-0) are returning nine players, including four starters, from last season's 14-win campaign.  They ended last season with four wins in their last six games before losing to Holy Cross in the opening round of the Patriot League Tournament.  Kerry Kinek returns to Lehigh as a sophomore after a freshman campaign where she started all 30 games and led the team in both scoring (with 12.8 ppg) and rebounding (8.3 rpg) as a freshman.