The College of Wooster women's basketball team is preparing for its second season under head coach Olivia Besancon and right out of the gate they take a trip to Bowling Green State University for an exhibition game against the Division I Falcons.
 
It will be everyone's first look at the new Fighting Scots who come in with some added depth and a focus on speed, rebounding and getting to the paint.
 
Besancon has supplied Wooster with its largest roster in quite some time. Nineteen players make up the roster with seven first-years and a junior newcomer, Abby Henegar, from the women's soccer team.
 
"We're all there to compete and push each other, but at the end of the day, we're one team" Besancon said. "Our added depth has raised the intensity at practices. You're going against quality players, and you're having to work harder."
 
Helping lead the way is sophomore Mackenzie Riccitelli. Riccitelli was the first Fighting Scot to be named the conference's Newcomer of the Year since 2007, and she hasn't taken that for granted.
 
"She was someone who came in and was ready to go," Besancon said. "She's been a good leader and has started to embrace that role a little bit more this fall."
 
Riccitelli led the team and was third in the NCAC averaging 16.6 points per game. Her 416 points also was seventh in program history for a single season, and she sits first with a .843 career free throw percentage (75-89).
 
Time will tell what the added depth will do for her this season, but Besancon thinks it will elevate her game leading to better decision making and shot selection.
 
"There's more around her this year, and she shouldn't have to play the huge minutes she did," Besancon said. "She has a lot more ball handlers around her, and that will lessen her load and allow her to improve in some other areas."
 
Wooster has good shooters around her as Ace Sturdivant hopes her shooting streak continues into her junior season. Studivant shot .389 (35-90) from 3-point range last year – sixth best in program history. 
 
Another top shooter is senior Ella Dean, who returned to the floor after a season-ending injury as a sophomore. Dean averaged 7.0 ppg last year and is a threat from range as well, shooting a career clip of .292 (63-216).
 
"Ella's more confident out on the court," Besancon said. "She's another one who sets the tone for us in practices, and the intensity her and Mackenzie both play with carries our team day in and day out."
 
While the Scots have shown the ability to shoot the ball, there is still a need to get the ball inside, whether driving the lane or feeding it to the post.
 
"I want us to be a team that gets to the free line more," Besancon said. "We have to be able to score in the paint to help the 3-ball." 
 
Senior Ella Biondi can help with that. Defensively, her 128 career blocks sit fifth all-time in the program record books. She swatted away 39 shots last year and needs 51 to tie the record.
 
Biondi and Dean make up a four-athlete senior class, which also includes Chloe Pordash and Erica Beaty, another currently playing with the women's soccer team.
 
Regarding the newcomers, Sturdivant knows one well as her sister, Pink Sturdivant, joins the squad to help in the guard position. Wooster also brings in more height between the pair of Hannah Stroebe and Hailey Bergosh.
 
"We have a lot of speed," Besancon noted. "We'll be able to push a little bit more with our ball handlers. We have a couple of post players who can get up and down, and that's something we've been harping on.
 
"Our newcomers are going to make an impact in various ways. They're all solid basketball players and it will come down to what we need game to game."
 
When the team does make the trip to Bowling Green, it will be a homecoming of sorts for the assistant coaches.
 
First-year assistant coach Morgan McMillen played some of her college ball at the program, while volunteer assistant Michael Baus is a graduate of the school.
 
"We don't get many of these opportunities," Besancon said. "We want to compete, battle, not back down and do the best we can." 
 
Wooster opens the regular season at La Roche University on Nov. 8. The Scots host Franciscan University on Nov. 11 for their home opener before the two-day Nan Nichols Classic Nov. 14-15.