The Memorial women's basketball team starts their season this weekend, as they travel to Prince Edward Island to face the UPEI Panthers in a 2-game series.

The Hawks are coming off the preseason, where the team finished with a record of 3-3. They come into the regular season facing a UPEI team that finished the pre-season with an impressive record of 6-1, their only loss coming to Concordia. The Hawks will look to slow down the Panthers, who play a very aggressive style, with some very well rounded scorers.

Head Coach Mark English commented on the preseason, saying "I think the major take away from this preseason is that we have a number of threats on the offensive side of the floor. We have 4 girls in double figures in scoring which is for sure a positive. I think we need to get better on the defensive side of the floor and that is something we have been working on to improve."

English also says that the team needs to do a better job of starting off games strong, adding that the team improved on that after their trip to Montreal. The team will look to get off to some good starts against a talented Panthers squad this weekend.

I spoke with the team's starting point guard, Jane Baird, about the teams focus for the weekend, to which she replied "Our focus is playing to our strengths, and starting off the season strong with two wins."

When asked about what challenges the Panthers bring, Baird said "They attack the net well and look to run in transition, so defence will play a big part in getting some wins. They play aggressively so staying composed will be key as well."

Talking with English about what the goals are for this team going into the season, and he had this to say, "Our goals are simple. We never get too high or too low, we just focus on the next play."

The Sea-Hawks, who have a balanced group of scorers in their lineup, will have to bring their A-game to take some wins from a very skilled Panthers squad who have some very strong scorers on their roster as well. This matchup is also a rematch from the preseason, which saw the Panthers take the win in a close game, 82-79, so expect some very close games this weekend in PEI.

The Sea-Hawks play Saturday at 6:30PM NST and Sunday at 1:30PM NST. You can watch the Sea-Hawks play live on AUStv.ca, or keep up with the games on Twitter and the live scoring at www.goseahawks.ca.