The Lady Toppers won’t be starting this season the same way they have in the past.

In its opening weekend Western will play host to Murray State on that Friday followed by a visit from Vanderbilt on that Sunday.

From Nov. 14 until Nov. 30 Western will play against three teams that made it to last year’s Sweet 16.

“To be honest, we don’t really put our focus on those particular games,” coach Mary Taylor Cowles said. “Because our philosophy has always been, the most important game on our schedule is the next one at hand.”

In the three games against Vanderbilt, George Washington and Duke, the three Sweet 16 participants will help the Lady Toppers prepare for their goal of making it back to the NCAA Tournament.

Western is a fairly young team with only one senior, forward Dominique Duck, and two juniors Rhode Island transfer forward Jessica Magley and guard Kenzie Rich.

The youthfulness that comes along with having five freshmen on the team and in practice is something that can bring a new energy to the team, Cowles said.

“They are so innocent that they don’t know any better,” Cowles said. “And I like that in freshmen. I think that’s one reason why, as a head coach, you become re-energized this time of year when you are able to get your hands on them in practice.”

This year’s team has a little bit of a different make-up compared to last year’s team, with former Western stand-out Crystal Kelly gone. But that doesn’t mean that the Lady Toppers won’t have success.

Duck said she saw this season’s team’s work ethic and its offenses’ ability to score a number of different ways while watching from the sidelines.

With so many new faces around Diddle Arena, the communication between players on the court is still in the making, Rich said.

“Off the court we really get along,” Rich said. “On the court, we’ve kinda been struggling with communication. We’ve gotten put on the line several times to run for not communicating.”

Rich said that with more time and more practice the communication will only get better.

Some of last season’s youngsters have made it clear that they are more than ready to step into more demanding roles this season.

Sophomore guards Hope Brown and Amy McNear went into Cowles’ office during the offseason and told her they were no longer freshmen.

“To be honest with you,” Cowles said. “They have been the two brightest spots of our practice so far. I think those two realize that there’s points needed, rebounds needed and some defense needed for this basketball team to be good.”

Reach Ryan Carey at sports@chherald.com.