The Georgetown women’s basketball team opens its 2016-17 season with a matchup against crosstown rival The George Washington University.

The two teams last met in 2013, with the game ending in a 78-57 victory for the Hoyas. The two teams were unable to schedule a meeting last season.

“It’s always great to have your local rivalry game,” Head Coach Natasha Adair said.

Georgetown enters the new season coming off an improved 2015-16 campaign. The Hoyas finished with a 16-14 record and earned an at-large bid for the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.

This year’s roster includes all three of the Hoyas’ top scorers from last season. Junior guard Dorothy Adomako and sophomore guard Dionna White led the team with 14.5 points per game while senior forward and co-captain Faith Woodward averaged nine points.

“You’re going to hear about Dorothy, you’re going to hear about Dionna and you’re going to hear about Faith,” Adair said. “But we have so many different pieces and pieces that people haven’t even seen yet. … Whatever we do is going to be a concerted team effort.”

The Colonials also begin this season with continuity in  scoring. Two of the team’s three top scorers from last year return to the roster. Senior forward Ciara Washington averaged 13.2 points per game during her junior campaign, while senior guard Hannah Scaible averaged 10.4 points.

Scaible and Washington helped lead George Washington to a 26-7 overall record last season. The Colonials finished second in the Atlantic 10 Conference standings with a record of 13-3 before going on to win the league’s postseason tournament, defeating Duquesne University by a narrow three-point margin in the title game. That victory guaranteed George Washington a place in the NCAA Tournament, where the Colonials’ season came to an end, losing to Kansas State 56-51 in the first round.

“[George Washington] is a program that went to the NCAA tournament three straight years and they have some returning pieces that are there,” Adair said. “It is about being competitive against George Washington, but it is also about focusing on the things we’ve been working on and just seeing those things come to fruition on game night.”

George Washington will be under the leadership of a new head coach this season. Jennifer Rizzotti will make her first appearance on the sidelines for the Colonials in McDonough Arena.

Rizzotti previously served 17 seasons as head coach at the University of Hartford. She led the Hawks to six NCAA tournament appearances and leaves the America East Conference as the winningest coach in the league’s history. As a player, Rizzotti won a National Championship with the University of Connecticut in 1995. She also played professional basketball for eight seasons.

“Jen Rizzotti is for sure a coach to be respected. … Just having that championship mindset and experience, having played for [Head Coach] Geno Auriemma at Connecticut,” Adair said. “I know they’ll be prepared. I know that they will be ready, but I’m excited because we will be, too.”

Rizzotti and the Colonials will make the short trip to McDonough Arena  on Friday.

“It’s opening night. It’s in McDonough,” Adair said. “Our court, our rules, our way.”

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.