LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. — The Lincoln University women's basketball team opens the 2009-10 with a Division I opponent and a home classic as the season gets underway Nov. 13.

Friday, the Lady Lions travel to Dover, Del., to face the Lady Hornets of Delaware State for a 4 p.m. game. Although the game is just an exhibition for the Lady Lions, it does count toward DSU's record.

Sunday and Monday, the Lady Lions host the Fourth Annual James A. Richardson Tournament. Named after former men's great Tarron Richardson, Lincoln welcomes the University of District of Columbia, Livingstone College and Concordia College (NY) to campus.

The women face Concordia College at 5 p.m. Sunday and The UDC at 7 p.m. Monday.

Last year's team struggled as the school transitions from NCAA Division III to Division II, going 2-25. However, a sizeable portion of the roster was not around for that campaign, and coach Andy Haman expects them to bring a new energy to the program. In all, there are six freshmen in uniform this weekend. The team has just one senior, Chanelle Harris (Philadelphia, PA/Penn Wood) (Philadelphia, PA/Penn Wood), the ball handler for the Lady Lions. She dished out 140 assists, more than double the production from any other LU women's player. She also averaged 5.1 points per game and will be looked upon as a leader because of her experience.

The team also returns Sharay Dubose (Salisbury, MD/Parkside), who averaged a team high in points (16.0) as a freshman and DeJuana Mosley (Chester, PA/Chester) (Chester, PA/Chester), who was second with rebounds per game (7.0) and points (13.8).

Haman enters his sixth season on the Lincoln bench and currently holds a 44-85 career mark. His resume includes a third-place finish at the Association of Division III Independents (AD3) Tournament in 2006 and a 2007 AD3I Northeast Region championship with a team that went 19-8.

— LU —