Champaign, Ill. - Fighting Illini Women's Basketball will open the 2015-16 season on Saturday, hosting the University of  Indianapolis in an exhibition matchup at Parkland College. The Illini and the Greyhounds will tip off at 2 p.m., Nov. 7 in the Dodds Athletic Center on the campus of Parkland College. 

Saturday's game will be live streamed on FIGHTINGLLINI.com, and fans can follow live scoring for the contest as well. Tickets for the game will be general admission and available at the door for $5, or can be purchased online here. Fans attending games at Parkland should park in lot M6, and enter through the Main North entrance.

Due to renovation in the State Farm Center, Illinois will play its first five games of the season at Parkland College. The Illini will welcome Chicago State, Ohio, UT Martin and Tennessee State to Champaign for it's first non-conference match-ups. Following a Dec. 2 contest at Miami, UI will move into the new SFC, hosting Lehigh on Dec. 6.

The Illini are headed into the 2015-16 season with a positive outlook on things to come. The team returns starters Chatrice White and Kyley Simmons, and also brings back experienced returners in Kennedy Cattenhead, Sarah Hartwell, Brooke Kissinger and Ashley McConnell.  White returns for her sophomore season after closing out 2014-15 averaging 14.5 points per game and a team-leading 7.0 rebounds per contest. She owns the Illinois freshman records for scoring and blocked shots as she led the team with 60 rejections  

The Orange and Blue also welcome a decorated class of freshman this year, including Parade All-American Cierra Rice, who was ranked as the No. 1 player out of Michigan. Ranked at No. 5 in the state of Minnesota, Alex Wittinger also joins the Illini this year. She grabbed 21 rebounds in her first outing with the Illini, an exhibition matchup against the AMW All Stars in Paris, France. Coming off of a stint with the Canadian National team, Jaelyn Kirkpatrick joins the Illini this season. She was ranked as the No. 1 guard in Canada. 

The Illini also welcome some experience to the program this year in seniors Eriel Davis and Simone Law. Law comes to Illinois from Loyola-Chicago, where she earned First Team All-Horizon League honors and was twice named to the Horizon League All-Tournament Team. Davis, a native of Danville, returns to the Illini squad after two seasons. She was a member of the 2012-13 squad and assisted the team as a practice player prior to that.

Stay tuned to FIGHTINGILLINI.com for all the latest on Illini Women's Basketball as the 2015-16 season begins. 

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