Marquette coach Eric Price says the first couple of weeks of practice have been a struggle, but with a pair of starters back and a couple other players that saw floor time a season ago returning he feels his squad will be just fine.

“We have nine players on the roster, but we’ll go nine deep,” said Price, who enters his sixth season on the Crusaders’ sidelines with a career record of 81-54. “We are going to need contributions from all nine every game. Here to start practices we’re battling sickness and injuries, so I haven’t had all nine at the same practice, but we’ll be OK.”

With the limited practice time for some of the girls and a few new faces, Price understands the opening couple of weeks may look a little ragged, but he feels the team will find its way.

“We have four games at the [Falcon-Irish Thanksgiving Tournament in Seneca] to start the year and two games the next week, so not a ton of practice time to fix mistakes or go over things,“ Price said. ”But that said, those six games will help me figure out who works best with who on the court and in what combinations and help girls start to get comfortable in roles.

“We may struggle the first couple of weeks, but I think we will improve as we go and be a pretty tough team come February.”

Marquette, which finished 21-11 a year ago, returns a pair of junior starters in shooting guard Kaitlyn Davis and point guard Hunter Hopkins.

Davis [17.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.9 apg, 3.3 spg, 1.9 bpg] stepped into a leading role as a sophomore and was a Times All-Area first team pick, a first-team choice of the Tri-County Conference and an IBCA All-State special mention.

“She had a great summer and recently received her first college offer which is great,“ Price said. ”As much as she did for us last year as a sophomore, we’re going to be asking her to do more this year. We know she can and will score, but we’re going to need a couple more rebounds and a couple more assists a game from her. The expectations for Kaitlyn are high, but I also know she can meet them.”

Hopkins [10.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 6.4 apg, 3.1 spg] was a Times All-Area second team selection and second-team All-TCC honoree.

“Hunter, as great of a softball player as she is she’s really just as good of a basketball player,” Price said. “She understands the point guard spot well and does a great job of getting us into our offense. She shoots well, can also create her own offense, rebounds well and plays tough defense.”

Price said senior Madison Kozlowski will be asked to take on a bigger role after logging some solid minutes last season and junior Emily Ryan-Adair will be a solid addition to the mix.

“Madison had a couple of really great games for us last season and will be looking for her to do that more this season,“ Price said. While Emily is a very athletic player, maybe the most overall athletic player we have. She is adjusting to the speed of varsity basketball and is a very good defender.”

Marquette’s roster will be rounded out by junior Nehaeh Corcoran, sophomores Kinley Rick [missed most of last season with sickness and injuries], Senya Mitre and Lilly Brewer, as well as freshman Chloe Thrush.

“The first thing for us will be to get healthy and to full strength,” Price said. “This group has a lot of talent, some untapped as of yet. I’m excited to see what this group can accomplish. I feel we can have a really good season.”

Marquette is scheduled to open the 2025-26 season in the Falcon-Irish Thanksgiving Tournament’s Seneca Pool, facing Serena, Streator and the host Fighting Irish. The Crusaders will have their home opener in Bader Gymnasium on Dec. 3 against Hall.