In the two days leading up to the team’s season opener in McDonough Arena against Richmond, Interim Head Coach Jim Lewis added three new players to the roster, increasing the number of players from 11 to 14.

Seniors on the roster Kelly Comolli and Kelyn Freedman, both already student athletes for Georgetown, will join the women’s basketball team for this season. According to Lewis, Comolli and Freedman were added because of injuries.

Comolli is also currently a senior captain on the tennis team. A four-year letterwinner for basketball in high school,Comolli graduated as the third leading scorer in program history.

Freedman joins the basketball team already a decorated lacrosse player at Georgetown. A senior lacrosse captain, she is coming off a stellar junior season where she was named All-Big East First Team and All-South Region Second Team. In addition to lacrosse, Freedman also played basketball and ran cross country in high school. She is her high school’s all-time leading scorer in basketball ,with 1,225 career points.

“We’re most appreciative of the lacrosse and tennis programs and their respective coaches for the Georgetown spirit they have shown in allowing Kelly and Kelyn to help us,” Lewis said according to the Georgetown athletic website.

Lewis made one final addition when he added JasmineMotton to the roster on Thursday. Motton, a former manager and marketing assistant for the women’s basketball team, will add even more depth at guard for theHoyas. In her final two seasons of high school, Mottonaveraged over 12 points a game, according to maxpreps.com.

Tonight will also be the first game for Lewis at Georgetown, who was hired just two weeks ago following the resignation of former Head Coach Keith Brown and is eager to begin his coaching career on the Hilltop.

“I feel like a kid in a candy shop — I am serious. But that is the way I would expect to feel coming in to a place like Georgetown, in my home area,” Lewis said. “There is a wonderful group of young women to work with and excellent coaches and supporting staff. I am not just saying that. It has been a terrific two weeks now. It is a good time to be at Georgetown.”

Richmond, though, will pose a tough first challenge for the Hoyas. Last season, Richmond finished ninth in the Atlantic 10 with a 16-16 record, earning itself a spot in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

“[Richmond] is really well coached. They have excellent balance, big posts inside that are athletic and tremendous three-point shooting,” Lewis said. “They play hard and play well together. They look like us in some of the schemes that they employ both offensively and defensively.”

The Spiders return two starters and 10 letterwinners from last year’s squad. Among these returning players are senior guard Kristina King and redshirt junior forward Genevieve Okoro. King was Richmond’s leading scorer last season, as she averaged just over 13 points a game. Prior to this season, King was named to the preseason all-conference second team.

Okoro is returning after suffering a season-ending knee injury just six games into last season. Prior to her injury, though, Okoro was a dominating force. In the six games, she averaged a double-double, with just over 10 points and 11 rebounds a game.

“We are going to focus on who their go-to players are, if you will,” Lewis said. “But we can’t lose site of the fact that all of them are very capable. These [players] are highly recruited, Division I scholarship athletes. We will try to take away some of their strengths and minimize the abilities of certain players. I think overall it is not a matter of focusing on this player or that player.”

A key difference in tonight’s game will be defense. The Blue and Gray will try to prevent the Spiders from having any easy opportunities, including layups and second-chance shots. This defensive mindset in turn will create Georgetown’s offense, according to Lewis.

“[We can] create a tempo off of our defense,” Lewis said. “By either turning them over or defensively rebounding the ball, [we can] successfully push it and get early opportunities [on offense]. One of the goals is to have a minimum of 40 transition attempts.”

Despite having six returning players, the Blue and Gray are a relatively inexperienced team. The Hoyas have five freshmen on the roster, and with high expectations they are expected to have an immediate impact.

“[The freshmen] are an interesting group,” Lewis said. “Each of them will have to find their own level. We will start a couple of them, and all of them will play [tonight]. They bring different degrees of abilities and skill sets. The thing we are focusing on [with them] is getting better each day, but this is their first collegiate game.”

The patchwork team of Lewis, the Hoya veterans, the freshmen, and Comolli and Freedman will try to prove that teamwork is more than just a catchphrase.

“Regardless of the outcome [tonight], we are expecting excellence,” Lewis said. “I know they will demonstrate the kind of togetherness and pride in each other, the team and the university that everyone can really be happy with.”

The Blue and Gray will open their season tonight when they play host to the Spiders. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at McDonough Arena.