opening tip... Sunday's season opener for Mount St. Mary's marks the seventh meeting in the all-time series against Virginia dating back to the 1980-81 season. The Cavaliers lead the series 6-0, including a 65-55 victory on Dec. 21, 2008.
• Mount St. Mary's has lost to Virginia by 10 points or less in two matchups and within 15 points in four of the six tilts. The Cavaliers beat the Mount 68-62 in 1982 and 65-55 in 2008.
• Mount St. Mary's will open up its season in Charlottesville for fourth time in program history and the first since 2000-01. The Mount also opened up in Charlottesville in 1980-81 and 1981-82, but it marks the third time the Virginia has been the Mounts season opener. In 1981-82, Mount St. Mary's played Navy to tip off the season at the Virginia Tournament.
• The Mount has never had a losing season when it opens the year in Charlottesville.

about the cavaliers... Virginia comes into the contest 1-0 after defeating Hofstra 82-66 on Friday. The Cavaliers were 21-10 in 2009-10.
• Junior G Whitny Edwards paced the Cavaliers with 16 points and five rebounds against the Pride. The junior averaged 6.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last season.
• Sophomore C Simone Egwu recorded a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds against Hofstra. Freshman G Kelsey Wolfe also registered a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in her collegiate debut. Egwu averaged 4.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game last year.
• Sophomore G Lexie Gerson posted 14 points off the bench on Friday after averaging 5.0 points and 1.6 rebounds per game.
• Freshman F Jazmin Pitts hauled in a game-high 17 rebounds against the Pride in her first college contest.

last time we met... Fifteenth-ranked Virginia defeated Mount St. Mary's 65-55 on Dec. 21, 2008. Hassanah Oliver paced the Mount with 14 points and six rebounds while Mary Dunn registered 11 points and nine rebounds, and Leah Westbrooks added nine points. Monica Wright fueled the Cavaliers with 27 points and Lyndra Littles tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

opening omen... Mount St. Mary's is 21-15 all time in the inaugural game of the year.
• The Mount has gone on to post a winning season in 18 of the 21 times the squad has won the opener.
• The Mountaineers are 12-7 in season openers on the road and defeated Colgate 60-39 in 2008 in the squad's last season opener on the road.
• Mount St. Mary's is 10-12 in the opener since switching to Division I, including 6-6 on the road.
• The Mount has won its last two season openers, marking the first time the squad won consecutive openers since the Mountaineers rolled off eight-straight season opening wins from 1985-93.• Head coach Bryan Whitten is 2-1 in season openers.

the mount and the atlantic coast conference... The Mount is 0-15 against the Atlantic Coast Conference: Georgia Tech (0-1), Maryland (0-4), North Carolina (0-2), N.C. State (0-1), Virginia (0-6) and Virginia Tech (0-1).
• Head coach Bryan Whitten is 0-2 against the ACC after falling 65-55 at Virginia on Dec. 21, 2008 and 44-42 to Virginia Tech on Dec. 9, 2009.
• The closest loss to an ACC school was a 44-42 loss against Virginia Tech on Dec. 9, 2009.

playing with the big teams... In the last three years under head coach Bryan Whitten, the Mount has battled two Atlantic Coast Conference teams and a Big East squad to within 10 points.
• In 2008-09, the Mount lost 65-55 at Virginia on Dec. 21, 2008.
• The Mount lost to Virginia Tech 44-42 on Dec. 9, 2009 and fell to Pittsburgh 57-47 on Dec. 31, 2009.
• Mount St. Mary's held Virginia Tech to its lowest point total in a single half in program history after grabbing a 27-12 going into the locker room. The 44 points allowed by the Mount were the fewest to an ACC school in team history and the two-point loss was the closest the Mountaineers have played an ACC opponent.
• The Mount rallied from a 21-point deficit against the Panthers to make it an eight-point game with 24 seconds remaining in the game.

next on tap... The Mount hosts American in the home opener on Wednesday and then welcomes UMES to Knott Arena on Nov. 20.

quick hits on the returners... The Mount returns six players from last year's team, including two seniors, one junior and three sophomores.
• Senior Mary Dunn led the team with 10.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. She fueled the Mount with 15 double-figure point performances and recorded three double-doubles and four double-figure rebound performances. The senior needs 164 points to reach 1,000 for her career.
• Senior Leah Westbrooks ranked second on the team with 6.3 rebounds per game and averaged 5.3 points per game in 2009-10. She scored double figures three times and grabbed at least 10 boards in five contests. Westbrooks averaged 9.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore.
• Junior Sandra Andresson averaged 6.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game last season. She registered six 10-point performances in her first nine games, but only had one double-digit performance the rest of the season. Andresson notched her first collegiate double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Loyola on Nov. 28, 2009.
• Sophomore Sydney Henderson averaged 5.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game as a freshman. She posted four 10-point performances including 15 points against Monmouth on Feb. 11, 2010. The sophomore started 14 games on the year, including the last nine games.
• Sophomore Selina Mann averaged 4.0 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in 25 games off the bench last year. Mann paced the team with 37 steals and ranked second with 40 assists. The sophomore posted three 10-point performances and notched her first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds against Sacred Heart on Jan. 28, 2010.
• Sophomore Tara Lonergan averaged 1.6 points and 1.0 rebounds per game in 22 games off the bench. Lonergan scored a career-high eight points against Quinnipiac on Jan. 30, 2010 and hauled in a career-best three rebounds four times as a freshman.

new to the mountain... Fourth-year head coach Bryan Whitten added freshman Ashley Christie, Kayla Grossett, Kelly Guerriero, Jessie Kaufman and Rachel Mathews to the roster in 2010-11. Each player signed a National Letter of Intent last season.

hearing your name called at the start... Head coach Bryan Whitten has only had 13 players start in his tenure at the Mount.
• Senior Mary Dunn has started 88-straight games in her career.
• Senior Leah Westbrooks started 67 games in her career and 55 of the last 56 games.
• Junior Sandra Andresson has started 48 of the 58 games she has played.
• Sophomore Sydney Henderson 14 of the 29 games she has played, including nine straight.

in the non-conference slate... Mount St. Mary's is 71-107 in non-conference games since joining the Northeast Conference in 1989-90.

in the month... Mount St. Mary's is 53-47 in the month of November in program history. The Mount is 29-16 at home, 15-25 on the road and 9-6 at a neutral site in the month.
• The Mountaineers are 27-40 in November since switching to Division I in 1988-89. The team is 16-16 at Knott Arena, 9-19 on the road and 2-5 at a neutral site.
• Under head coach Bryan Whitten, the Mount is 6-8 overall, 3-6 at home and 3-2 on the road in the month.
• The Mount is in its 37th campaign in program history, but did not have a game in November seven times.
• Mount St. Mary's won its first 17 home November games in program history.

preseason poll... Mount St. Mary's was picked 11th according to the Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. Long Island, who advanced to the NEC Championship Game last season, received six first-place votes to be tabbed as the preseason favorite while the defending league regular season champions Robert Morris was selected second after garnering three first-place nods. Sacred Heart placed third ahead of the defending NEC Tournament champions Saint Francis (Pa.), who picked up two first place votes while Monmouth nabbed the final first-place vote to finish fifth in the poll. Quinnipiac, Central Connecticut State, Bryant, Fairleigh Dickinson, Wagner, the Mount and St. Francis (N.Y.) rounded out the 12-team field.

we are on defense last year, let's see what we can do this year... Mount St. Mary's ranked second in the NEC with 56.7 points per game allowed last season.
• The squad also ranked 39th in the NCAA Division I for scoring defense.

let's play to 60 points... Mount St. Mary's is most successful under head coach Bryan Whitten when it scores 60 points in a game or holds the opponent under that total.
• The Mount is 18-11 when it scores 60 points in a game, but 14-45 when it does not reach 60 points.
• Defensively, the Mountaineers are 25-21 when the opponents are held under 60 points and 7-35 when the opponent reaches 60 points.

three keys to whitten success... The Mount is most successful under head coach Bryan Whitten when the squad leads at halftime, in rebounding or keeps the opponent under 60 points.
• The Mount is 24-13 when he holds the lead at halftime, 2-2 when the game is tied, but just 6-41 when trailing at the break.
• The squad is 15-14 when it holds a rebounding edge in a game, but just 15-38 when the opponent has the advantage and 2-4 when the two teams have equal boards.
• Mount St. Mary's is 25-21 when it holds opponents under 60 points.

hitting 20 points in a game... Senior Mary Dunn is the only player on the roster that has scored 20 points in a game in her career. The senior accomplished the feat twice last season when she posted a career-high 21 points against Colgate on Nov. 24, 2009 and had 20 points against Long Island on Jan. 16, 2010.
• The Mount has registered 16 20-point performances and two 30-point games under head coach Bryan Whitten. The squad is 9-7 when a player reaches 20 points and 2-0 when a player scores 30 in a contest.

1,000-point scorer... Mount St. Mary's has had a player reach the 1,000-point plateau in five of the last seven campaigns.
• Senior Mary Dunn is the closest player to 1,000 points with 836 career points.
• Senior Leah Westbrooks (528 points) is next on the Mount's active point list.

dunn on the all-time lists... Senior Mary Dunn is making a mark on the program's all-time list.
• The senior currently sits in 31st place in program history with 836 career points. She can pass Dorthea Beck (838, 1982-84) with three points and ahead of Jan Everly (848, 1982-86) with 13 points to move into 29th place.
• The senior also ranks seventh in program history in rebounds per game (7.3 rpg.). Dunn can move into the program's all-time career rebounding Top-10 with 55 caroms.
• Dunn also ranks eighth in Mount Division I history with 13 career double-doubles. She can move up a spot with her next double-double.

other players on the move... Along with senior Mary Dunn, the Mount has several players making a move on the program's all-time scoring chart.
• Senior Leah Westbrooks has 528 career points and can move into the Mount's Top-50 with one point and move into 49th place with nine points. Westbrooks also ranks 13th in Mount Division I history with six double-doubles and can move into eighth place with four double-doubles.
• Junior Sandra Andresson currently sits in 65th place in program history with 335 points and can move into 64th place with one point, 63rd place with three points, 62nd place with five points and 61st place with 11 points.
• Sophomore Sydney Henderson has 144 career points to sit in 95th place. She can move into 94th place with one point, 93rd place with two points, 92nd place with four points, 91st place with five points, 90th place with eight points, 89th place with nine points and 88th place with 13 points.
• Sophomore Selina Mann is right at 100 points for her career and can move into the program's Top-100 with 26 points.

home sweet home... In its 24th season at Knott Arena, Mount St. Mary's has posted a 203-95 overall mark, including 68-40 in non-conference play and 135-55 in league play since moving across Route 15 from Memorial Gym.

tops in the league... Mount St. Mary's has posted the most wins in the Northeast Conference since joining the league in 1989-90 with 241 victories.
• The Mount has the third-most wins in league history, trailing only Monmouth (253) and Saint Francis (Pa.) (247).
• The Mount is 241-131 in Northeast Conference play, including 135-54 at Knott Arena and 106-77 on the road.

northeast conference history... Prior to last season, the Mount had advanced to 20-straight Northeast Conference Tournaments.
• Mount St. Mary's is 17-17 in the NEC Tournament.
• The Mountaineers have not won a tournament game since a 50-45 win against Sacred Heart on Mar. 4, 2001.
• Mount St. Mary's won tournaments in 1992-93, 1993-94 and 1994-95, including earning the league's first two NCAA Division I bids.

the underlining whit... Head coach Bryan Whitten is in his four season at the Mount in 2009-10. The Mount is 32-55 overall under Whitten.
• Whitten has defeated all 11 other teams in the NEC.
• The Mount is 14-27 overall at Knott Arena and 10-18 in NEC play under Whitten.
• The Mountaineers fair better on the road with an 18-29 overall mark away from Emmitsburg and 10-16 in league play.
• Whitten picked up his first Mount win with a 55-51 decision at Lafayette on Nov. 17, 2007 and earned his 25th career in at Lafayette on Nov. 30, 2009.
• Whitten earned his 250th win of his career against Quinnipiac on Jan. 30, 2010.

foreign flavor... Mount St. Mary's has three international players on the roster at the same time for the first time in program history.
• Senior Leah Westbrooks (Ireland) was the third international player at the Mount, junior Sandra Andresson (Estonia) became the fourth international player in Emmitsburg and freshman Kayla Grossett (Canada) became the fifth international player at the Mount.
• The trio follows Katie Walton (Canada, 1998-02) and Dita Krumberga (Latvia, 2004-07).

coaching changes... For the third-straight season, head coach Bryan Whitten has made changes to his coaching staff. Denise King and Lisa Steele both moved up a chair while Whitten added Mount alumni Brianna Gauthier this season.
• King is in her second season at the Mount after serving as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Rhode Island, for the last four years.
• Steele is also in her second season at the Mount after ending her four-year career at George Washington in 2008-09 after registering 206 points and 107 rebounds with the Colonials.
• Gauthier returns to the Mount after serving as an assistant coach under former Mount assistant Mark Zacher at Norwich, a Division III school in Vermont. A 2009 graduate of the Mount, she finished her career 18th in program history in all-time career points (1,128), second in 3-pointers made (164), second in 3-pointers attempted (490) and ninth in assists (335). Gauthier briefly played professionally in Sweden before joining the Norwich coaching staff last season.