The Marist women's basketball team opens the 2018-19 season on Sunday, as the Red Foxes take on Navy in Annapolis, Maryland. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
 
Marist is coming off a Postseason WNIT berth, a 20-win season, and a berth in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game. With a talented returning core, a plethora of experience, and more depth than the program has had in several years, the Red Foxes are poised to build off last season's achievements.
 
Head coach Brian Giorgis is in his 17^th season at the helm. Giorgis has led the Red Foxes to 11 MAAC championships, 13 postseason appearances, and a 376-146 record in his tenure.
 
What's Coming Back

• 98 percent of the team's scoring.
• 96 percent of the team's minutes played.
• 99 percent of the team's starts.
• All five starters.
• 11 of the 12 players who saw playing time.

 
Returning Starters
Rebekah Hand followed up her MAAC & Met Writers' Rookie of the Year season by earning First Team All-MAAC honors. Hand led the Red Foxes in scoring (16.1 points per game), ranked third in the nation and set the program's single-season record for free-throw percentage (.940), drained a team-best 62 three-pointers, and hauled in 6.2 rebounds per contest. A Preseason First Team All-MAAC selection, Hand enters her junior season with 926 career points. She will serve as co-captain this season.
 
In her first season in uniform after transferring in from Virginia Tech, Alana Gilmer turned in a Second Team All-MAAC performance last year. Gilmer averaged 15.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while leading the team in blocked shots (24) and finishing second in assists (91). Gilmer was a Preseason First team All-MAAC selection heading into her red-shirt junior year this season.
 
Maura Fitzpatrick was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Year last season. In addition to leading the Red Foxes in steals last season, Fitzpatrick averaged 11.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Fitzpatrick was named Preseason Second Team All-MAAC heading into her senior season, and has 936 career points.
 
Grace Vander Weide made her debut on the court following the conclusion of the first semester after transferring in from Missouri State. The Red Foxes went 17-6 in her 23 starts at point guard last season. Vander Weide led the Red Foxes in both rebounds (6.7) and assists (4.2) per game, and was the team's leading scorer at 9.0 points per game. The red-shirt junior was named Preseason Third Team All-MAAC heading into this season.
 
Willow Duffell made 27 starts last season as a freshman, and was named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team. Duffell averaged 5.7 rebounds and was second on the team in blocked shots (22) in 22.0 minutes per game last season.
 
Returning Reserves
Allie Clement is in her fifth season with the program, and will serve as co-captain this year. Clement has had her season cut short by knee injuries each of the last two years. She has played in 75 career games with 60 starts, and has totaled 559 points and 109 three-pointers as a Red Fox.
 
Sophomore guard Allie Best is one of three Red Foxes who appeared in all 34 games last year, and she made 11 starts. Best averaged 5.5 points per game while shooting .400 from three-point range and .762 from the free-throw line.
 
Junior guard Hannah Hand, the twin sister of Rebekah Hand, was limited due to injury last season. Hannah Hand appeared in 16 games last year, and shot an efficient .510 from the field, .455 from three-point range, and .833 from the free-throw line.
 
Entering her senior season, 6-foot-2 Lovisa Henningsdottir gives the Red Foxes experience in the post. Henningsdottir was limited due to injury to 19 games last season, but has 81 career appearances and 38 starts. She averaged 8.9 points while making 32 starts as a sophomore.
 
Sophomore Gabi Redden showed her potential in the post last season. Redden averaged 3.5 points in just 6.0 minutes per game, and shot .857 (24-for-28) from the free-throw line in just 131 total minutes.
 
After sitting out her freshman season due to injury, Molly Smith made her on-the-floor debut last season in the post. Smith appeared in 19 games, with four starts, and shot .750 (15-for-20) from the free-throw line.
 
The Red Foxes will also welcome back red-shirt junior guard Claire Oberdorf, a two-sport star who sat out last season due to injury. As a sophomore in 2016-17, Oberdorf started all 32 games and averaged 10.5 points per outing.
 
Newcomers
The Red Foxes will welcome a pair of freshman guards and longtime friends to the team this season. Sarah Barcello and Kendall Krick both come to Marist from Seton Catholic Prep in Arizona. Barcello stands 5-foot-11, was named Arizona Player of the Year, and averaged over 16 points and six rebounds per game in each of her final two years of high school ball. Upon her signing, the 5-foot-8 Krick was lauded by Coach Giorgis as being the "ultimate team player."
 
Coaching Staff
Giorgis returns for his 17^th season, and three-quarters will enter its third season together. Erin Doughty was promoted to associate head coach this past summer. Doughty has been with the Marist program during Giorgis' entire tenure (three seasons as a player, and entering her 14^th season on staff). Keila Whittington is in her fifth season covering two stints on Giorgis' staff, and her third year since returning to Poughkeepsie. Maggie Gallagher, who played for Giorgis for four seasons, in now in her third year as an assistant coach. The lone new member of the Marist staff is Elyse Schlump, who joins the Red Foxes after serving as associate head coach at Skidmore College for the past five seasons.
 
Schedule
Marist will once again face a challenging non-conference schedule. Of the 12 non-conference foes the Red Foxes will face, eight reached postseason play last year. Marist will have four non-conference home games (Boston University, Nov. 16; Temple, Nov. 18; Northeastern, Dec. 18; UMass, Dec. 29), five road games (Navy in the season opener, Nov. 11; Elon, Nov. 30; Duke, Dec. 2; Albany, Dec. 9), and three games against Stetson (Nov. 23), Hofstra (Nov. 24), and Wright State (Nov. 25) at the Challenge in Music City in Nashville, Tennessee over Thanksgiving Weekend.
 
In conference play, the Red Foxes will once again face an 18-game schedule, which starts with the annual western New York trip to Niagara (Jan. 3) and Canisius (Jan. 5). Marist will face every MAAC foe twice with the exception of Iona (only at home) and Saint Peter's (only on the road). The 2019 MAAC Championships will be held at the Times Union Center in Albany from March 7-11.