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HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson women's basketball team will begin its 2012-13 season on Friday with Siena at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. with tipoff scheduled for 5 p.m.

A year after coming within four points of knocking off eventual Northeast Conference champion Sacred Heart in the opening round of the NEC Tournament, sixth-year Head Coach Pete Cinella has his young Knights' squad ready for the 2012-13 season.

In his first five years at the helm for FDU, Cinella has guided his team to the NEC Tournament four times. His 2012-13 team features one senior in Torrie Childs (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Central) (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Central), as well as three juniors, six sophomores and five freshmen.

The Knights will attempt to navigate through a difficult schedule that includes Syracuse from the Big East and Penn State out of the Big Ten in nonconference play before facing the likes of NEC preseason favorite Quinnipiac and defending champion Sacred Heart in conference.  FDU is scheduled to play 11 home games at Stratis Arena beginning with a 5 p.m. showdown with Army on Thursday, Nov. 15.

On the offensive end, the Burgundy and Blue will need to replace the scoring void left by the departure of Mariah Laury to graduation. Laury, who broke an NEC single-game record with 42 points against Monmouth (Feb. 11, 2012), finished her career with 1,920 points, the second most in program history.

Despite the loss of last season's leading scorer, FDU welcomes back a core of young talent, including 2011-12 NEC All-Rookie Team member and leading rebounder (7.2 rpg) Erika Livermore (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) and second-leading scorer (10.9 ppg) Danielle Pankey (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South).

The Knights bring back starters Mariah Nunes (Ajax, Ontario/Bill Crothers ) (Ajax, Ontario/Bill Crothers) and Desiree Crawford (Aurora, Ontario/Cardinal Carter Catholic) (Aurora, Ontario/Cardinal Carter Catholic), as they look to integrate Richmond transfers Miah Register (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic) (Trenton, N.J./Catholic) and Leah Johnson (Teaneck, N.J./Paterson Catholic) (Teaneck, N.J./Paterson Catholic) into the mix. Both Register and Johnson transferred to FDU from the Virginia school midway through the 2011-12 season and will be eligible to play during the second semester.

Picked to finish 10th in the NEC Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Knights may again look to its defense to lead the way. Last season FDU lead the NEC with 154 blocks and 4.97 blocks per game to go with a team defense that allowed opponents to shoot just .367 from the field, the second-best mark in the conference. 

Siena will also be making its 2012-13 season debut. Coming off a 12-17 (9-9 MAAC) finish and a conference tournament semifinal loss to Fairfield, the Saints will look to knock of the Knights to start the season under first-year head coach Ali Jacques.

Senior forward Lily Grenci was named to the Preseason MAAC First Team after averaging 15.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game last season. She is joined by returning starters Clara Sole Anglada, a junior forward who averaged 7.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game last season, and sophomore guard Tehresa Coles, who averaged 4.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

FDU and Siena will be meeting for the 10th time in the all-time series and the first time since Feb. 28, 1991 when the Saints won 95-72. The teams first squared off on Jan. 24, 1984, and the last victory for the Knights in the series was an 88-65 win on Feb. 21, 1986.