GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The DU women's basketball team starts their season tonight against No.11 Cardinal Stritch University. The Panthers are coming off of a 32-1 2014-15 campaign that saw DU win the WHAC regular season and tournament championships while advancing to the Second Round of the NAIA national tournament.

Here we go! Davenport begins its 14th season Friday against fellow national powerhouse Cardinal Stritch. In fact, it is the third time in four years that the Panthers and Wolves open their seasons opposing each other with DU winning the last meeting, 70-57. The Panthers are 11-2 in season openers.

Like Davenport, the Wolves are coming off a season reaching the second round in the NAIA Tournament last year, having fallen to No. 10 Jamestown College. Stritch comes off of a 28-5 campaign and returns key playmaker senior Emily Neitzel who averaged 11.5 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game. The Wolves will look to fill the void left by Michelle Piebenburg who was their leading scorer (13.3) and rebounder (7.8) in 2014-15.

The last time they met, Davenport took down the Wolves in the 2014-15 season opener at the Student Center. Senior Daina Grazulis fueled the Davenport attack with a 31-point, 15-rebound double-double. DU led the Wolves at the break by a 37-33 score. Grazulis came on strong in the second half as she totaled 17 points and recorded seven rebounds to lead DU to a 70-57 score. The Panthers never trailed in the second half and did not let Stritch climb within four points.

First year head coach Robyn Scherr-Wells will look to seniors Tiesha Stokes and Alex Law to lead the Panthers in 2015-16. Stokes, a former All-American, is coming off of an All-WHAC selection last season. Law will start beside Stokes and was named captain along with fellow senior Shaina Johnson.

The Panthers begin their 2015-16 campaign ranked No.2 in the preseason poll while also being selected to repeat as WHAC champions for the 10th straight season. Coach Scherr-Wells knows these preseason honors will mean little if they don't accomplish their ultimate team goals of a conference championship and success in the national tournament.

Coach Scherr-Wells commented on this preseason recognition, "I was a little surprised we were ranked No. 2. I thought we would be No. 4 or No. 5. It's nice that other coaches think highly of our program, but ultimately, it has very little to do with our end goal of winning a WHAC championship and making a strong run at the national tournament." The Panthers have seen success in the national tournament in years past with runner-up finishes in the 2011 and 2013 seasons.