BOSTON – The Suffolk women's basketball team lifts the lid on its 35th season Wednesday, Nov. 15 as at Salve Regina. Game time at the Rodgers Recreation Center is set for 7 p.m.

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BACK AT IT
Headlining the core returners are co-captains Georgia Bourikas and Alexandra Nagri. Bourikas is back on the hardwood in Beacon Hill after a career campaign, where the guard posted career numbers in nearly every category including field goal percentage (39.3), three-point percentage (41.5), rebounds (5.4 rpg), assists (2.6 apg) and blocks (0.5 bpg). Nagri, meanwhile, has been a constant in the Rams lineup for the past two seasons and looks to improve upon her 7.5 ppg and 2.0 apg from last season. 

Alexis Hackett is back for her second season at Suffolk coming off a GNAC Rookie of the Year campaign a year ago. The first-ever Ram to take home the league's best rookie status contributed 8.5 ppg and 5.8 rpg. 

Also returning for Rams are juniors Marissa Gudauskas and Shannon Smith.

IN WITH THE NEW
Head coach Ed Leyden brought in six true freshmen; Mya Blazejowksi, Gabriella DeComo, Jenni-Rose DiCecco, Jordan Hipwell, Stephanie Langlais and Rachel LaSaracina. The Class of 2012 looks to make an immediate impact for the Rams.

OPENING ACT

• Suffolk is 18-16 all-time in season openers and 14-9 under head coach Ed Leyden.
• The Rams have won the first game of the season for six consecutive campaigns, including a 73-70 triumph at UMass Boston a year ago.
• For the seventh consecutive campaign, Suffolk will play away from home in the first game of the season.
• Suffolk and Salve will meet on day one for the fourth time and first since tipping off the 2010-11 campaign when the Seahawks defeated the Rams, 72-40.

SEAHAWKS SAYINGS
Salve Regina is coming off a 10-16 season where it was led by Commonwealth Coast Conference Rookie of the Year Torie Scorpio, who started all 26 games as a freshman and led the Seahawks offense with 12.5 ppg. 

The Seahawks will also look to their quartet of captains in seniors Mary Eden and Ally Esielionis and junior Kerri Beland and Liv Pierce to lead the way. Beland (12.3 ppg) and Esielionis (7.8 ppg) were second and third, respectively, on the squad in points, while Eden paced Salve on the glass last season with 6.8 rpg. 

Cori Hughes enters her 11th season as the Seahawks head coach.

THE SERIES

• Suffolk and Salve Regina renew a rivalry that dates back to 1985 and will meet for the first time since the 2010-11 season.
• The Rams trail the all-time series, 4-3 with the blue-and-gold's last win over the Seahawks coming Nov. 17, 2009, 62-58.
• In Newport, Rhode Island, Suffolk is 1-2 versus Salve Regina.

EYES ON THE GAME

MORE READING: Women's Basketball Predicted Fifth in GNAC Preseason Coaches' Poll

PACING THE SIDELINES
Ed Leyden enters his 24th season as the Rams' head coach. During his tenure, he has coached nine of the 13 members of Suffolk's 1,000-point club and led the Rams to eight ECAC appearances and 23 straight GNAC postseason trips. In 24 total seasons as a collegiate head coach, Leyden has amassed 374 career victories including a 363-249 (.593) record at Suffolk.

RAMS ROSTER
Suffolk's 11-player roster is comprised of a pair of seniors and juniors, one sophomore and six freshmen. 

Position wise, the Rams feature five guards, two sing players and four forwards.

RAMS RINGLEADERS
A pair of senior guards have been elected to serve as Suffolk's captains for the 2017-18 campaign as Georgia Bourikas and Alexandra Nagri will split the leadership responsibility in their final run as Rams.    

MORE READING: Bourikas, Nagri to Serve as Women's Basketball Captains in 2017-18

GEOGRAPHY 101
The 2016-17 Rams represent six states along the East Coast. Five players are Massachusetts natives and two come from Connecticut. New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont are also represented.

RECORD WATCH
Georgia Bourikas looks to stamp her name in the Rams' record book this season. The senior is just 279 points shy of the coveted 1,000-point milestone. The guard from Hull, Massachusetts, also looks to move her current fourth-place standing on the all-time treys made list with 107 up, while she also has the chance to seal up spots on the all-time assists (154) and blocks (27) list.

DOUBLE DIP
Five of Suffolk's games this season will serve as doubleheader with the Rams' men's squad. 

• Dec. 2 vs. Mount Ida
• Dec. 12 vs. Emerson
• Jan. 18 vs. Norwich
• Jan. 27 vs. St. Joseph's (Maine)
• Feb. 1 vs. Anna Maria 

Last season, Suffolk went 2-1 when playing the same day inside Regan Gymnasium as the men

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk remains on the road as it heads to Manwah, New Jersey this weekend for Rampo's Roadrunner Tip-Off Tournament. The Rams will first take on Saint Joseph's (Brooklyn), Friday, Nov. 17 in a 5:30 p.m. tilt with the winner advancing to championship where they will face either the hosts Roadrunners or  York at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18. The consolation game, featuring the two losers from day one, is set for 12 p.m. Saturday.