HOBOKEN, N.J. (November 11, 2019) – With seven returning players who played in over 20 games last season, the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team heads into the 2019-20 season looking to have success in their first season in the MAC Freedom.

The Ducks will be led this season by 2018-19 Empire 8 Conference Rookie of the Year Jess Broad as they will kick off the new campaign Tuesday against Western Connecticut State inside Canavan Arena at 7:00 p.m.

Along with Broad, the Ducks also return the 2017-18 Empire 8 Rookie of the Year Christina Li.

Now in her eighth season as the head coach of Stevens, Megan Haughey is excited to get the 2019-20 campaign started.
"We have been working hard and I am excited at the potential growth of our team throughout the course of the season," Haughey said. "We need to come to defend every night and find consistency on that end of the floor."

After advancing to the Empire 8 Tournament in each of the past 12 seasons and to the NCAA Tournament three times in the past five years, Stevens will now turn their attention to the MAC Freedom. The new conference will feature multiple teams with previous success in the postseason.

DeSales University, the 2018-19 MAC Freedom Tournament Champions, won a pair of games in the NCAA Tournament last season and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 13 in the D3Hoops.com preseason poll. FDU-Florham, meanwhile, had won the previous five conference tournament title as well as winning the NCAA Division III Title in 2013-14.

Stevens earned a first place vote and was picked to finish third in the MAC Freedom Coaches Preseason Poll behind only DeSales and Misericordia University.

In total, the Ducks will face off against five schools who advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2018-19 in Hartwick College, Pomona-Pitzer, No. 15 Christopher-Newport University, No. 1 Amherst College and No. 13 DeSales.

No Seniors? No Problem

• The 2019-20 Ducks will feature zero seniors on the roster, but will draw experience from juniors Annetta Panayides, Lily Taeuber and Li who all played in at least 25 games last season.
• Additionally, leadership will come from Meghan Douglas, Allie Moss and Tauber who were named team captains for this season.
• Li and Moss were second and third on the team last season with 53 and 47 assists, respectively.
• "We will rely on our junior class for experience," Haughey said. "Annetta and Christina return and we are relying on them to provide solid play in the post and on the perimeter. Additionally, being a team without seniors, we have gotten excellent leadership from our captains Meg, Allie and Lily. They have a passion to win and work hard and have stepped up to the challenge to lead our group."

Ultimate Underclassmen

• Broad will lead total of seven sophomores into the season as she is the team's leading returning scorer. The Second Team All-Empire 8 selection averaged 14.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and a team-best 3.1 assists per contest this season.
• Douglas finished third on the team last season with 88 total rebounds to go along with 11 blocks.
• The Ducks will also feature three freshmen on the squad for the 2019-20 season in Natayla Spinks, Kaityln Rothwell and Danielle Cornetta.
• "The newcomers have things to work on as they adjust to the speed of our game but have already grown and all seem ready to help us if needed," Haughey said. "Our expectation with the schedule we play is to get better every day. Take one game at a time and enter conference play battle tested and having grown."