The St. Lawrence University women's basketball team, the reigning Liberty League tournament champion, was selected as the conference preseason favorite heading into the 2013-14 season. The Saints garnered 59 points with four first place votes, while Vassar finished in a close second with 57 points and four first place votes. Skidmore and William Smith rounded out the top four with 46 points (one first place vote), and 44 points, respectively.

St. Lawrence, which finished with a 19-9 overall record and 11-5 conference record, captured the program's sixth conference title last season. Nine Saints return as veterans from that championship team, while fifth year head coach Dan Roiger welcomes five newcomers to the 2013-14 squad, including Caroline Dalton, Sam Godfrey, Oliva Carlsson, Olivia Mathieu and Ellie Gonyeau.

"We had an excellent spring and fall in terms of commitment," said Coach Roiger. "We have also had good practices so far. Our new players have played an important role on our team because they are very athletic and are playing hard, which challenges our top group and has made them better. Our scrimmages went well, exposed some of our weaknesses, but we've been working hard on them since."

St. Lawrence returns four of five starters from last season's NCAA tournament team, led by junior guard Kara McDuffee. A First Team All-Conference selection, she finished last season in the top 10 among conference players for points, rebounds, and assists (14.5 ppg 7.2 rpg, and 2.8 apg). McDuffee also led the conference in steals (62) and free throw percentage (89.8 percent).

Other top returners for the Saints include senior forward Kelly Legg, Allie Cady, senior guard/forward Cassie St. Hilaire, and sophomore guard Lauren Quattrocchi.

Legg, a Second Team All-Conference honoree last season, was the 2013 Liberty League tournament MVP. She averaged 13.1 points per game and 7.0 rebounds last season. Cady finished with 220 points last season and was named to the All-Tournament team after scoring 14 points to help the Saints win the crown. St. Hilaire, one of two seniors on the squad, finished with 196 points and 107 rebounds. Quattrocchi, who is expected to see time at point guard this season, contributed 146 points, 25 steals and 56 rebounds.

Of the five newcomers, Dalton is expected to step in and make an immediate impact with her strong presence in the post. Godfrey, an outstanding defender, will also see some minutes for the Saints in her first season, while Carlsson and Mathieu have made tremendous improvements during the preseason and continue to challenge the starters in practice sessions. Gonyeau is currently out with a preseason injury.

St. Lawrence will open the season this weekend in Boston, MA at the Emmanuel Tournament. The Saints will take on Ohio Wesleyan at 1pm on Saturday, and will play either Emmanual or Stevenson in Sunday's game.