The Fresno State women’s basketball 2023-24 season is nearly underway. The first game will take place on Friday, Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. at the Save Mart Center.

The Division I Bulldogs will take on the Division III La Verne Leopards. The importance of winning the first game is crucial for both sides as it can set the tone for the season.  

The two teams do not have a lot of history, as they have only faced off once back in 2019, a game that the Bulldogs won 111-56. 

Led by Head Coach Jaime White, the Bulldogs finished the previous season with an overall record of 10-22 and a 3-15 Mountain West Conference record. 

A notable challenge the Bulldogs may face is that they will head into this season without their top four scorers from the previous year which were: Amaya West, Yanina Todorova, Amiee Book and Imani Lacy. 

There are 7 players from last year’s roster returning for this upcoming season including Sydney Dethman, one of two player representatives at the Mountain West media days in Las Vegas. 

The other half of the Bulldogs’ roster features eight new players, four of which are freshmen, and sophomore Mia Jacobs. Jacobs was also a player representative alongside Dethman. 

The Leopards finished last season with an overall record of 24-3 and a 15-1 conference record in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. 

Led by new Head Coach Anthony Mason, the Leopards will try to build off their record from last season. Mason was hired on July 7 and previously coached at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.