Six things you need to know about the 2024-25 Women’s Basketball team

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT women's basketball team tips off its 2024-25 season at home against Geneseo this Friday at 4 p.m. Here are six things you need to know about the Tigers.
 
About Last Season
The Tigers finished the 2023-24 season with a 9-17 overall record and 8-10 in the Liberty League. The team qualified for the conference tournament, falling to Ithaca in the first round. Senior guard Emma Waite earned United States Basketball Writers Association Area (USBWA) NCAA Division II-III Team honorable mention after finishing the season averaging 12.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Waite led the team in rebounds (123) and steals (38).
 
Welcome Coach Kuberka
With more than nine years of experience in basketball leadership roles at the collegiate level, Melissa Kuberka takes the reins at RIT following a seven-year run at St. John Fisher which included four NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, four Empire 8 conference championships and six regular-season titles.
 
Kuberka compiled a 146-35 (.807) record during her time at St. John Fisher, including a 92-11 (.893) mark in Empire 8 play. She guided the Cardinals to four of the last five E8 Championships, including their third-consecutive title this past winter, while also playing in the previous six E8 Championship games.
 
Meet the Vets
The team brings back nine players for last year's roster. Seniors Kaitlyn Bockelman, Hannah Durand, Lila McGuiggin, Sonya Shivok, junior Erin DiPaola, sophomores Faye Kaplinski, Ella Wilson, Sydney Dodds, and Emma Rose are all back for 2024-25.
 
Both Kaplinksi and Wilson averaged 6.9 points per game for RIT a year ago. The duo also averaged just under 4.5 rebounds per game.
 
Bockelman made 14 starts last season, averaging a career-best 6.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. 

Meet the Newcomers
RIT welcomes four newcomers to the 2024-25 roster in first-years Caroline Henderson, Ben Kayser-Cochran, Sophia Spizuoco, and sophomore transfer Maddy Ramsgard.    
 
Ramsgard joins the Tigers after playing one season at St. John Fisher.
 
New Floor
The Tigers will be playing on a brand new floor this season. The old hardwood was removed and the new Benck Family Court was installed inside Clark Gymnasium over the summer. Through the generosity of trustee Jeff Benck '88 and his wife, Nancy, the court brings a start-of-the-art playing surface to RIT. The court is a Robbins Bio-Channel SB Floor that utilizes the benefits of Zero/G technology for excellent vibration control and self-blocking for durability. The Zero/G shockpad is there to control vibration to safeguard the well-being and performance of our student athletes.

Schedule
RIT, ranked sixth in the Liberty League Preseason Poll, opens the season at home against Geneseo this Friday with tip-off scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
The Tigers travel to St. Mary's (Md.) to take part in the Jamie L. Roberts Memorial Tournament (Nov. 15-16) before hosting Nazareth (Nov. 21) and St. John Fisher (Nov. 22) in the Mark's Pizzeria Crosstown Classic.
 
The team will host Brockport (Dec. 3) before opening their conference schedule at home against Bard (Dec. 6) and Union (Dec. 7).
 
RIT wrap up the non-conference portion of their schedule at Rochester (Jan. 6).
 
The Tigers visit William Smith (Jan. 10) and RPI (Jan. 11) before hosting Ithaca (Jan. 14). The team will again hit the road with games at Skidmore (Jan. 17) and Vassar (Jan. 18). RIT will host Clarkson (Jan. 24), St. Lawrence (Jan 25), RPI (Jan. 31), and William Smith (Feb. 1).

RIT has only two home games in February with games against Vassar (Feb. 14) and Skidmore (Feb. 15). The rest of the month, the Tigers play road games at St. Lawrence (Feb. 7), at Clarkson (Feb. 8), at Ithaca (Feb. 11), at Union (Feb. 21), and at Bard (Feb. 22).