ST. DAVIDS, Pa.--Eastern Women's Basketball tips off the 2012-13 season tonight at nearby Rosemont College at 6 p.m.

After a 17-9 season last year, the Eagles look to have another successful season but also face the challenge of being a very young squad. The Eagles start their season with five freshmen, seven sophomores and no juniors or seniors on their roster.

Eagles head coach Nate Davis said that his sophomores have done a good job of taking leadership roles in the preseason, especially forwards Kaleigh Boreman and Meghan Nowak.

Nowak, last season's National Rookie of the Year and a preseason All-American this year, will be the focus of every opponent's scouting report. Coach Davis said that Nowak is up for the task. "Teams will be focusing on her, so that's a challenge for her and the rest of the team, but we can't let other teams get away with that," he said. Davis commented that Nowak will have four other players on the court that can score when she is inevitably double- (or triple-) teamed.

Eastern Women's Basketball was recognized as the No. 2 team in the Freedom Conference preseason poll. "It's an honor that's great for our program," Davis said. "It shows that we've made progress. Now we need to prove game-in-and-game-out that we've earned that respect."

As the Eagles take on the Rosemont Ravens tonight, Davis acknowledges that there is some uncertainty about how both teams will play tonight. "Rosemont continues to improve, and we're going to have to be ready to play," he said. "Tonight will be our first chance to experience adversity on the court and deal with it."

Davis said that it's the unknown about this season that's exciting. "We don't know yet what we'll get," he said. "We lost some key pieces from last season, but we'll get to see how our players respond to their new responsibilities."