Presbyterian College at Old Dominion
Friday, November 14 - 7 p.m.
Ted Constant Convocation Center - Norfolk, Va.
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CLINTON, S.C. - The Presbyterian College women's basketball team hits the road to open the 2014-15 season, facing Old Dominion on Friday night at 7 p.m. before heading to Virginia's capital to square off against VCU on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. PC will look to win its first season opener since a 49-46 win over Clemson in 2012 after a 45-30 loss to No. 22 Georgia in last season's debut.

Friday and Sunday's games mark the first time the Blue Hose have ever faced Old Dominion or VCU. PC went 2-2 in games played in Virginia last season, topping Radford and Longwood while losing to Liberty and Virginia Tech.

Old Dominion was picked to finish No. 6 overall in the 2014-15 Conference USA Coaches' Preseason Poll after a 2013-14 season that saw the Lady Monarchs rack up 18 wins en route to their second consecutive WNIT berth. Old Dominion will play three players who did not play last season in Jennie Simms and Annika Holopainen, who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules and Ashley Betz-White, who redshirted. Chelisa Painter is the Lady Monarchs top point/rebound returner after averaging 8.9 points and 5.9 rebounds in 2013-14.

VCU went 22-10 last season with a 9-7 record in the Atlantic 10, including a fearsome 11-2 record at home in the Siegel Center. The Rams reached the A-10 Championship Quarterfinals before a close 62-61 loss to Dayton. VCU earned a trip to the WNIT and will look to sophomore Keira Robinson, who received A-10 Preseason Third Team honors. Robinson, who earned All-Rookie honors, led the Rams in assists per game (6.3), and set the school record for most assists in a single season by a freshman (200), which is the third-best in a single season.

Tthe 2013-14 season saw the Blue Hose win eight of their last 11 games—including the team's first-ever VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Conference Championship tournament win—with a squad that started three freshman for a combined 58 games. PC also boasted the nation's second-ranked scoring defensive last season, holding opponents to 53.5 points per game. The Blue Hose won nine Big South Conference games and knocked off Longwood in the first round of the Big South tournament.

Noelle Carter returns as the team's lone senior. The 6-0 guard set career-highs last season in nearly every category and led PC in blocks four times while appearing in every game. Carter made nine starts in 2013-14 and the coaching staff plans on the senior to make a big impact in her final season.

The Blue Hose return six letter winners and three starters in redshirt junior Keyonna Allen, sophomore Aianna Kelly and sophomore Rebecca Walker. Allen posted the 10th-best rebounding season in program history last year, hauling in 218 rebounds that included 88 offensive boards. She also became the first PC Division I player to tally 300 points and 200 rebounds in a single season. Kelly led PC freshmen with 6.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per game while starting 24 out of 31 contests, leading PC in assists 11 times and steals 18 times. Walker enjoyed a fine rookie season, leading the team in blocks 10 different times–second-most on the squad–and knocking down 20 three-pointers. Kaycie Reffner and Kasey Hobbie round out the returners. Reffner gained a wealth of experience running the floor, starting 14 games and playing in all 31. The freshman ranked second on the team in three-pointers and upped her numbers in Big South Conference play.

PC brings aboard five rookies for the 2014-15 season in Jameka Braden, Tia Mason, Janie Miles, Cortney Storey and Allie Wagner. The coaching staff expects all five to see significant time this season. Brooke Rhodes, Kendra Talley and Elizabeth Landers also return to PC after redshirting their freshman campaigns.

PC was predicted to finish eighth in the Big South Conference in an annual poll of league coaches and media, the League announced at its annual Media Day. The Blue Hose received 54 points, just one behind seventh-place UNC Asheville and two behind sixth-place Gardner-Webb.

PC ranked second in the nation in scoring defense last season, holding opponents to 53.5 points per game–only behind national champion UConn in the rankings. PC also ranked seventh in the nation in personal fouls per game, averaging just 14.5 per game.

For the third straight season, the Blue Hose boasted a winning record at the Templeton Center with an 8-6 marker. PC outscored opponents 57.6 points to 54.5 and held foes to 34.2 percent shooting last season at home, following a 9-3 home record in 2012-13 and a 9-5 marker in 2011-12.

This year's 14 Blue Hose hail from seven different states, arriving from Texas (Tia Mason), Georgia (Keyonna Allen, Kendra Talley, Rebecca Walker), Pennsylvania (Kaycie Reffner), Tennessee (Jameka Braden, Brooke Rhodes, Cortney Storey), New Jersey (Noelle Carter, Kasey Hobbie), Virginia (Aianna Kelly), South Carolina (Elizabeth Landers, Janie Miles, Allie Wagner).

Head coach Ronny Fisher returns for his seventh season as head coach. Fisher was named the Big South Conference's Coach of the Year in 2012-13, PC's first coach in any sport to achieve that honor. He ranks third in program history with 63 wins, standing 10 away from both Randy Randall (1977-84) and Byron Rucker (1984-89) in second.

The Big South Conference announced its women's basketball television package for the 2014-15 season will again feature six live regular-season Conference games exclusively on ESPN3 as part of a “Game of the Week” package beginning in January. The Blue Hose will play in one of those games, a League battle at UNC Asheville on Saturday, January 31 at 2 p.m. All PC home games will be available for streaming on the Big South Network presented by State Farm, accessible via BigSouthSports.com.

Assistant coach Kat Kundmueller returns for her second season after helping PC's guards maintain one of the nation's stingiest defenses and guiding senior guard Karlee Taylor to a spot on the All-Big South Conference Second Team last season. Chris Harris joins the Blue Hose this season in his first year as an assistant. He enters his eighteenth season in college coaching, and nineteenth overall. He arrives at PC after spending the 2013-2014 at Kenwood High School in Clarksville, Tenn., where he helped the Knights to their highest district finish and tournament seed in the history of the school. Prior to Kenwood, Harris completed one of the most successful four year runs in the history of Volunteer State Community College with a record of 82-29 and an NJCAA National Tournament appearance in 2013.

Following this weekend's trip to Virginia, the Blue Hose return home to host Allen on Tuesday, November 18 at 5 p.m. The game will mark the first of a Blue Hose doubleheader, with PC men's basketball hosting Piedmont at 7:30 p.m.