This time last year, Queen's Women's Basketball knew exactly when and where their season would end. The Gaels hosted the U SPORTS Women's Basketball Final 8 at the Athletics and Recreation Centre and Head Coach Claire Meadows said it was a goal to make sure the team was peaking at the right time.

This year the National Championship will be played in Nova Scotia, but Meadows said the objective remains the same. 

"It's the exact same approach," said Meadows. "It's our goal to be back to Nationals and earn our way there this year. And to be able to do that, we have to be ready at the right time. It's really about getting better every single day, doing the little things every day to make sure we're prepared."

After finishing the regular season 9-5 and advancing to the second round of the OUA Playoffs last year, the Gaels won the Bronze Medal at the U SPORTS Final 8. Queen's opened the tournament with a win over Saskatchewan before a close loss to Winnipeg in the semifinals. The Gaels defeated Brock to capture the Bronze on home court in front of a packed ARC crowd.

While they graduated OUA Second-Team All-Star Sophie de Goede and Emma Ritcey this summer, the Gaels return a large part of their veteran core for this season.

"Having them back is huge," said Meadows of her returning upper-year players. "In terms of our leadership experience, especially after how we performed at the end of the year last year, getting that core group of players back is essential for us to meet our goals and expectations this year."

The Gaels open their 2022-23 campaign with a doubleheader at the ARC, hosting the Laurentian Voyageurs Thursday at 6 p.m. and the Nipissing Lakers Friday at 6 p.m. While a number of familiar faces will be logging important minutes for Queen's this season, Meadows said a number of younger players have earned their chance to contribute throughout the pre-season as well. 

"A couple of our second years, they're going to be sliding into bigger roles. And then we have a fairly dynamic group of first years that are coming in. Throughout preseason, a few of them have already gotten some good minutes and proven that they're ready to play at this level. I'm excited to see what they're going to be able to do this year."

After earning a national bronze medal last year, Meadows said the on-court goals for the team remain lofty for this season. But the team is focusing more on their team standards to define a successful season, and know if they can achieve those, results will come.

"We've set a number core values for the team ahead of the season. When the season's done, we've spent a lot of time talking about if we live up to those core values. And if we've lived up to those core values, then we will consider our season a success. Obviously, we want to perform well on the court as well, but the core values are things that we can control. That's where our focus is each and every day."