Rockhurst Women's Basketball officially opens the 2025-26 season Friday night against Central Christian College of the Bible at Mason-Halpin Field House.

The Hawks, who were picked by the coaches to finish right outside the upper half of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, plan to run with the ball led by a guard-oriented lineup.

"It's one of the quicker groups overall that we've ever had," said head coach Larry Park. "This looks like the team we had two years ago (that finished 15-12 and averaged 70.1 points).

"We are going to play fast. We hope to score more points off steals. We out possessed our opponents by seven or eight (two years ago)."

Macie Conway returns for her fourth season at Rockhurst at the off-guard spot.  The 5-foot-9 guard averaged 9.3 points and ranked 17th in the GLVC in free throwing shooting (76.9 percent) last year. She ranks 25th in career scoring (804) and 20th in career assists (110) at Rockhurst.

Junior Aubrey Treadwell was the starting point guard in 16 games last year before suffering a season-ending injury. She averaged 6.1 points and 1.5 three-point field goals per game.

The backcourt will have depth with the return of juniors Averi Porter and Ella Campbell. Redshirt freshman Kayla Reis and junior transfer Keeley Steele should help with scoring from the outside. Junior transfer Alexis Schroeder, who scored 41 points in game last year at North Iowa Area Community College, may also help out in the backcourt in the second half of the season.

"Our guard play needs to be good. We play in a guard league. We need to get tougher," Park said.

Inside, the Hawks will be counting on some new faces to replace the loss of two key returnees to injuries in Chloe Frank and Clare Diener. Frank and Diener combined for 375 points and 65 three-point field goals last year.

Tori Miller is a junior forward who averaged 14.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game the past two seasons at North Iowa Area CC. Redshirt junior Julia Wright adds another athletic forward.

Sophomore Lauren Sandstrom, junior Alivia McCulla and redshirt junior Cristina Luquin will see increased playing time this year in the frontcourt with the graduation of Keegan Sullivan, Rebeca Garcia and Akili Felici.

Rockhurst will play a 20-game conference schedule this year, beginning Nov. 29 at home against Truman State. The Hawks hope to improve on their 10-16 overall and 8-12 conference records last season.

Live stats and live videos will be available for all games this season. Check the Rockhurst website for the game links.