In Edmonds' absence, senior Shawnee Pickney will anchor the frontcourt. Pickney led the team last season with 10.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, and will lead a relatively young corps of forwards. Assisting Pickney will be sophomore Katie Day, who averaged 5.1 points and 4.3 boards in only 13 minutes of play in her rookie year.

To balance the lack of depth at the forward position, Columbia will rely on two sophomore guards who showed great potential on the court during their rookie seasons.

Patricia Kern proved a solid player at the point, accumulating 101 assists over the year and averaging 5.5 points a game. Her partner in crime, Megan O'Neil, is less of a playmaker but a consistent at the line, an invaluable skill during critical moments of the game.

Cornell

With a deeper roster and more experienced players, Cornell is ready this season to make its championship hopes a concrete reality.

With a quick first step and great instincts on the court, junior guard Deborah Stevens leads a talented corps of Big Red players. Stevens' versatility paced the Big Red in the 1999-2000 season, as she averaged 12.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while racking up 80 assists and 49 steals over the course of the year.

Junior guard Breean Walas will also attract attention from defenders after averaging 8.5 points per game, shooting 51 percent from the field and hitting 84 percent from the penalty stripe.

Sophomore Katie Romey is considered deadly from long-range, and Coach Marnie Dacko expects senior forward Jennifer Linker to provide even more offensive firepower.