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LIVE WEB CASTS

The 2009-10 basketball season will roll into motion when the Wilmington College Lady Quakers host the Wilmington Inn/Damon’s Tip-Off Tournament Friday and Saturday at Fred Raizk Arena.

Wilmington will play Rose-Hulman in Friday’s 6 p.m. opener while Marian (Ind.) and Calvin (Mich.) will tangle at 8 p.m. The consolation game will be played at 1 p.m. Saturday, followed by the championship game at 3.

“We have three very good teams coming to Wilmington,” said Jerry Scheve, who will begin his 20th season as head coach at Wilmington. “Rose-Hulman has three starters returning, and you have no idea about their freshmen. One or two freshmen can really turn a team around. Calvin has a very good freshman class and I think Marian is going to be very good. They lost their best player after the first game, and if she is back this weekend they are going to be a very hard team to contend with.”

Wilmington returns all five starters and its top 11 scorers from last season’s 19-8 squad that advanced to the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals. Senior post Kortney Kin (Upper Sandusky/Riverdale) was on everybody’s All-America team with 21.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Senior point guard Marianne McGoron (Hamilton/Fenwick) scored nine points per game and led the OAC in assists-to-turnovers ratio. Senior wing Claire Brown (Batavia/Glen Este) averaged 10.3 points and 5.5 boards per contest.

“We have 11 veterans who have all played in our rotation. We also have new players that are going to be in contention for playing time. I think the key for us as a team is to stay together as a team, no matter what our individual roles are and do everything we can to make this team the best it can be,” Scheve said.

Rose-Hulman returns several key players from last season’s 8-16 team, including sophomore forward Alisa Dickerson, who averaged 10.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.

Calvin opened the season with a 69-50 win over Cornerstone Tuesday night. Freshman Carissa Verkaik scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Knights. Calvin’s returning contingent includes senior forward Brook VanEck, who averaged 13.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last season.

Marian brings a 0-3 record to the tournament. The NAIA Knights opened the season with losses to Shawnee State, Walsh and Concordia. Senior forward Molly Lauck has averaged 11 points and nine rebounds per contest.

Both first-round games and Wilmington's Saturday game will be Web cast live by Wilmington College Sports Network.