JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida women's basketball opens the season with its first game on the new CSI Companies court against Warner on Monday, Nov. 7, at the UNF Arena with tip-off set at 7 p.m.

Monday's game at the UNF Arena will be streamed on ESPN3 and is free admission. The Bank of England Hospitality Suite will not be open as it is still undergoing construction. 

SCOUTING REPORT

• The Royals come into this game with a 1-2 record with a win against Florida National.
• Head coach Nikki Jessee enters her fourth season with Warner.
• Jasmine Edwards (13 PPG) and Chanelle McDonald (12.7 PPG) are the leading returners in scoring.
• Edwards brings back the majority of the teams rebounds from last season with 247 total (10.7 RPG).
• McDonald, who was SUN Freshman of the Year, exploded for a career-high 31 points in the Royals' season-opener against Florida National.
• She also had 22 combined rebounds in her first two games as well.
• They also added on four transfers and four freshman to round out their roster for the year.

FROM THE JUMP

• UNF opens the season at home for the first time since Nov. 11, 2016, against Florida A&M.
• It is also the first time since 2016 that UNF will open the year against a non-Power Five opponent.
• The Ospreys have won six-consecutive home openers at UNF Arena.
• UNF brings back two returners, including one starter, while also bringing in nine newcomers.
• Six of the newcomers are transfer players with three of them entering the year as freshmen.
• North Florida has combined for 202 points over their past two matchups against Warner, while also holding the Royals to 46 points or less in each of the past five meetings.

AN OSPREY WIN ON MONDAY WOULD...

• Be the first win in a season-opening game since the 2016-17 season.
• Make Ospreys 7-1 in home openers under head coach Darrick Gibbs.
• Give UNF their ninth consecutive victory over Warner.

ELEVEN

The Ospreys will man an 11-player roster throughout the 2022-23 season, which is the lowest it has been since the 2017-18 season.

NEWBIES

The Ospreys have plenty of new faces to go around with six transfers and three freshmen bringing their talents to Jacksonville, Fla.

Elysa Wesolek (South Carolina), Brianna Livingston (Monmouth), Selma Eklund (UNC-Wilmington) come directly from D-I programs, while Kristy Hamze (Queens), Lyric Swann (CCBC Essex) and Jaelyn Swann (CCBC Essex) are additions from D-II/NJCCA institutions. Lyric and Jaelyn Swann do have experience playing at the D-I level, as they previously played for UMBC before transferring to CCBC Essex.

UNF brings in three freshmen after only have one on the roster this past season (Kaila Rougier). Maddie Millar, the only in-state product on the team, and Sarah Taub are guards with stellar shooting abilities. Helena Rafnsdottir also joins as a freshman after playing for her club team in Iceland since she was five years old, as well as the Icelandic Women's National Team.

Assistant coach Myron Brown is also welcomed as a newcomer to the squad, as he joins the Ospreys' coaching staff after being the head women's basketball coach for Thomas University since 2017.

TWIN TIES

Lyric and Jaelyn Swann both transfer in from CCBC Essex in Maryland to join the Osprey roster. They are one of 15 sets of twins playing for the same Division I women's basketball team this season.

This is also the second consecutive year that UNF will sport a set of sisters on the squad, as Jazz and Jaida Bond both played for the Ospreys this past year.

CONFERENCE CONNECTIONS

North Florida makes it two years in a row that they have a player transfer in from another current ASUN squad. Kristy Hamze played for Queens (N.C.) the past two seasons, who will now join the conference in their first year as a Division I team.

Last season, Jaida Bond transferred into UNF to join forces with sister, Jazz, where she came in from North Alabama as a previous all-conference selection.

INTERNATIONAL FACES

Helena Rafnsdottir (Iceland), Selma Eklund (Sweden) and Brianna Livingston (Canada) all join the Ospreys this season representing three different countries. Rafnsdottir and Eklund both have experience playing for the national teams of their respective countries.

It's the third straight season rostering three or more international players, while it also being the first time since 2014-15 that three or more players come from unique countries outside the United States.

INTERNATIONAL PLACES

UNF will make the trip out the Dublin, Ireland, to compete in the MAAC-ASUN Dublin Challenge, joining Eastern Kentucky as the fellow ASUN member playing against MAAC foes.

They are scheduled to compete against Rider on Friday, Nov. 18, at 2:30 p.m. EST, followed by a matchup against Marist the next day on Saturday, Nov. 19, at 9:30 a.m. EST.

SUNSHINE STATE

UNF plays 17 of their 29 games this season inside the state of Florida, including 13 of the 17 matchups played at UNF Arena.

It will also be the first time since the 2014-2015 season that the Ospreys will open the season with two games inside their home arena.

ROAD RUNNERS

The Ospreys will visit six different states in their travel schedule on the year, along with their pair of games overseas in Dublin, Ireland.

UNF will visit Wisconsin, Ireland and Alabama before Christmas break, and will return with trips to North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas.

Out of this year's road slate, the Ospreys will play against four Power Five opponents in Wisconsin, Miami (FL), Auburn and Alabama.

BROERMANN TIME

Emma Broermann leads this team as the unquestioned leader heading into the 2021-22 season. She enters he senior season as the only player on the team with more than one year of experience playing for UNF.

Last season, she was the only player on the team to start all 30 games played. The Okeana, Ohio, native also had the second-best field goal percentage (.602) and the ninth-most blocks (25) in the conference.

Broermann enters her senior season with the Ospreys sitting in the top spot for field goal percentage (.550), as well as the 10th-most blocks (37), in D-I program history.

LOOKING AHEAD

UNF returns for another home game later this week to face off against College of Charleston on Thursday, Nov. 10, in UNF Arena at 7 p.m. It will be the first time under head coach Darrick Gibbs that the Ospreys open a season with back-to-back home matchups.