POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Vassar College starts its season at the Babson College Invitational. Head coach Candice Brown, entering her sixth year with the Brewers, will look to repeat on her program-record 23 wins and her team's bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Game Details
Opponent: vs. Babson College (0-0/0-0 NEWMAC)
Site: Babson Park, MA
Facility: Staake Gymnasium (650)
Date: November 15, 2014
Time: 1 p.m.
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)

Game Details
Opponent: vs. No. 15 Williams College (0-0/0-0 NESCAC)
Site: Babson Park, MA
Facility: Staake Gymnasium (650)
Date: November 16, 2013
Time: 1 p.m.
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)

What To Look For
The Brewers will start their 2014-15 season on the road as they face Babson College and Williams College at the Babson College Tournament. Vassar comes into the weekend receiving three votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll. In the second game of the weekend, Vassar will face No. 15 ranked Williams, who the Brewers beat 76-75 in the first round of the NCAA tournament to move on to the second round.

A Look At The Beavers
Babson College enters this season coming off a 14-13 record last year, going 12-8 in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference.  The Beavers are bringing back the full team from last season along with four incoming freshman.  They were a very young team last year, which means that they had a lot of room to grow and develop. The squad will have experience on their side this year, bringing back all of their top players.

Two players stand out as being large contributors to this Babson team. Their top point scorer with 307 points, Linnett Graber, is only a junior this season. She started all 27 games, averaged a team high 11.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game, while shooting .732 at the free-throw line.  The second highest point scorer with 264 points is Giovanna Pickering. She will only be a sophomore this season.  She averaged 9.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.2 steals last year.

A Look At The Ephs
The Ephs come into the season with big expectations, as Williams is 15^th in the WBCA Preseason Poll and No. 17 in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25. The Ephs have made the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons, making the Final Four during the 2012-13 season. Like Babson, Williams did not graduate any seniors last season. They are going to be coming into this season even more experienced and stronger than last season.

A player to watch for is junior captain Ellen Cook. Cook topped the Ephs in minutes played (883), assists (101), steals (64) and points (371/14.3). Additionally Cook was second on the Eph team in blocks (39), three-pointers made (31), and rebounds (147). Cook ranked among the NESCAC leaders in nearly every statistical category, including second in steals (2.40), fourth in assists (3.76) and blocked shots (1.48) and she is tied for fourth in scoring (14.0). She was named First Team All NESCAC, Third Team All-Northeast Region, and WBCA Honorable Mention All-America.

Against Teams In The Babson College Invitational All-Time
This will be the first contest between Babson and Vassar. The Brewers are hoping to start the series off strong with a win this weekend. The Brewers are 1-13 all-time against Williams College. Their only win took place last year in the NCAA tournament.

Previous Meetings: (Williams – March 7, 2014)

Babson Invitational Benefit
During this weekend's Babson Invitational Tournament fans will have an opportunity to take part in fund-raising activities that will benefit the life-saving work of the American Cancer Society and its Coaches vs. Cancer initiative.

The tournament begins on Saturday, November 15, with women's games at 1:00 and 3:00pm and men's games at 5:00 and 7:00pm, and continues on Sunday with four more games. Taking part in the men's tournament will be the host Beavers, Bates, Nichols and Salve Regina. On the women's side, Babson is joined by Rhode Island College, Vassar and Williams.

Donations will be collected on-site, throughout the weekend. The teams are also taking part in an online fundraising challenge ahead of the tournament. Fans can donate to their favorite team's efforts by clicking here and selecting the team they wish to support. We hope you will come out and support your team for this great cause because with everyone's help there will someday be a world with less cancer and more birthdays.

Drake
As a sophomore Caitlin Drakeley (Woodbury, CT/Nonnewaug) started in all 29 games and finished with 12.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. She is going to be a go-to player for the Brewers this season.

All-Time
The Brewers enter their 27^th season of competition in the NCAA, starting their tenure in Division III in 1983. Vassar College has gone a combined 296-326 (.476) over the years.

Head Honcho
Candice Brown currently has 87 career wins at Vassar College, and 125 as a head coach. She is second all-time in wins at VC, and has the best win percentage in program history.

Liberty Love
Over the last five seasons, the Brewers have done well within the Liberty League. Over that time, Vassar has earned three Liberty League titles, a regular season championship, three Player of the Year honorees, two Rookies of the Year, and three Liberty League Tournament MVPs.  

The OC
This season marks the return of junior Colleen O'Connell (Maywood, NJ/Immaculate Heart Academy). O'Connell was a First Team All-Liberty League performer as a sophomore, and missed all of last year with an injury.

AP Store
Senior captain Allyson Pemberton (Weston, MA/Weston) returns as a senior ready to make a big impact. Pemberton averaged over seven points a game last year, and was named as the Liberty League Tournament MVP after netting 24 points in the title game at St. Lawrence University.

Third On The Totem Pole
The Brewers were recently picked to finish third in the annual Liberty League Preseason Poll, voted on by the coaches. Vassar picked up one first-place vote, placing behind Skidmore College and preseason top pick St. Lawrence.

To The Moon
Vassar College will welcome back junior Alex Moon (Mission Hills, CA/Bishop Alemany) this year, as the guard will be a huge boost once she returns from her semester abroad.

Twin Towers
With the graduation of Hannah Senftleber, the Brewers will need a huge season out of both six-footers in Rose Serafini (Milton, Ontario, Canada/Milton District) and Zoe Walker (Seattle, WA/Lakeside School). The two combined to grab over 10 boards per game last season.

Welcome Back
Assistant coach Carolyn Crampton returns for her first season on the bench with the Brewers after helping the squad earn its first ever Liberty League title back in 2010-11.

Freebies
The Brewers were great last season from the free throw line, shooing a program-record 76.9 percent from the charity stripe, while Cydni Matsuoka led the nation in free throw shooting.

Potent Attack
Vassar College set the school record in 2013-14 for scoring offense, as the Brewers posted 70.1 points per game. It marked the first time that Vassar had eclipsed the 70-point mark.

Up Next
Vassar continues its season next Wednesday evening, taking on their cross-river rivals, New Paltz, at 7 p.m. in the Athletics and Fitness Center in the home opener.