NORTHWESTERN BASKETBALL: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	BROADCAST	LIVE STATS
Friday, Nov. 11	Hampton	3:30 p.m.	Evanston, Ill. (Welsh-Ryan Arena)	BTN2Go	SIDEARM
Sunday, Nov. 13	Oral Roberts	1 p.m.	Evanston, Ill. (Welsh-Ryan Arena)	Studio N	SIDEARM
Social: Twitter (@NUWBBall and @NU_SportsLive) \| Instagram (@NUWBall) \| Facebook

EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern will open its 2016-17 season with a pair of home games. The 'Cats will host Hampton on Friday, Nov. 11, before facing off against Oral Roberts on Sunday, Nov. 13, at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Single-game tickets and season tickets are available through the Northwestern Ticket Office, online at NUSports.com or by calling 888-GO-PURPLE.

A LOOK AT NORTHWESTERN
A 29-game regular-season campaign awaits Northwestern as the Wildcats are prepared for their challenging list of opponents, which features 16 league matchups, including eight conference contests at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

The Wildcats return four starters from last year's roster, including tri-captains Nia Coffey, Ashley Deary and Christen Inman.

This year, the Wildcats welcome four new freshmen, featuring Bryana Hopkins, Abbie Wolf, Abi Scheid and Byrdy Galernik. The class was ranked No. 34 by Blue Star and No. 37 by Prospects Nation.

The #B1GCats finished the 2015-16 season with their fifth postseason appearance under head coach Joe McKeown after finishing the season 18-16 overall. Northwestern won 10-straight games to open the season for the second-straight year. NU was one of just two Big Ten teams to open the season with 10-consecutive wins before dropping its first game of the year against No. 16 DePaul on Dec. 19. Northwestern closed out its non-conference slate with an 11-1 mark for the best start to a season under McKeown.

For the first time in school history, Northwestern won three games in the Big Ten Tournament. Despite the absence of sharpshooter Maggie Lyon, the 'Cats defeated Wisconsin, then pulled out upset victories over fifth-seeded Minnesota and No. 4 seed Indiana. With the wins, the Wildcats reached the Big Ten Tournament semifinals for the second-consecutive year.

A LOOK AT HAMPTON
The Pirates were ranked first in 2015-16 MEAC standings, going 13-3 in their conference and 21-11 overall under head coach David Six just last season.

The Pirates return eight players from last year's roster, including senior Malia Tate-Defreitas and Third Team All-MEAC honors recipient Kaylah Lupoe. Junior Lupoe started in all 28 games played her sophomore year, averaging 10.4 points and 7.2 rebounds while hitting 50% from the floor. Tate-Defreitas scored double figures in all but one of her 31 games played, ranking in the top 20 nationally in field goal attempts (7th) and ending her junior year third on Hampton's all-time scoring list. Along with Tate-Defreitas and Lupoe, sophomore Dejane' James returns after starting in five games as a freshman and playing in 28.

The Pirates welcome in six new players to this year's' team, four true freshmen and two transfers. Jephany Brown comes to Hampton from Walters State Community College and Monnazjea Finney-Smith joins the Pirates from Virginia Commonwealth University.

A LOOK AT ORAL ROBERTS
The Golden Eagles will head to Evanston after a Big Ten matchup against Iowa on Friday, Nov. 11. ORU welcomes seven newcomers to the 2016-17 roster, including six freshmen along with redshirt junior transfer Lakota Beatty. Oral Roberts was picked to finish fourth in the Summit League, according to a preseason poll, but did receive one first-place vote.

ORU's Lakota Beatty and Jordan Gilbert are coming off of their redshirt seasons and the Golden Eagles leading scorer during nonconference play last year, Bria Pitts, is back after suffering a knee injury. Maria Martianez, Faith Ihim and Kaylan Mayberry received postseason recognition for their efforts during the 2015-16 season. The Golden Eagles finished 14-16 overall and 10-6 in Summit League play.

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'Cats Tip Off 2016-17 Season Against Hampton Friday

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Players Mentioned

Bryana Hopkins

Northwestern University Athletics

Northwestern University Athletics

'Cats Tip Off 2016-17 Season Against Hampton Friday

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