FAIRBANKS — You’ll probably see the Alaska Nanooks going inside when the women’s college basketball season gets under way Tuesday night at the Patty Center.

The Nanooks have plenty of players who can drain 3-pointers, but first-year coach Dave Thompson thinks the Nanooks’ strength early in the season will be the front line.

“I think we have a great front line,” Thompson said Friday afternoon. “Our forwards and post players are really tough, which is a blessing not every team has.

“We’re going to try and utilize them,” Thompson added. “Our focus will be on the inside, and then kicking it out.”

The Nanooks open the season with games against the Hawaii-Hilo Vulcans at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at the Patty Center.

Heading up the list of returning Nanooks is 5-foot-9 senior forward Ronisha Edwards, who averaged 12.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.

A pair of 6-2 junior posts — Nicole Bozek and Jessica Harrison — also return, along with 5-10 junior Grace Milliken and 5-11 junior Jessie Craig.

Bozek played in 18 games last season before being sidelined with a knee injury. She averaged 12.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest. Harrison played in just three games before suffering a knee injury.

When injuries started wiping out the Nanooks roster last season, Milliken came on strong and averaged 4.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game before getting injured herself.

Craig, from Fairbanks, also is coming off an injury after playing in just three games last season.

Bolstering that group is 5-10 senior transfer Lakeshia Levi from Warner Robbins, Ga. She played 11 games at NCAA Division I Kent State last season.

The only veteran guard on the Nanooks roster is junior Caitlin Hamsley, who Thompson hopes will be eligible by the time Great Northwest Athletic Conference play starts in January. Junior college transfers include 5-7 junior Brittany Aldrich and 5-6 junior Alexandra Melonson. Denise Benavides, a 5-3 sophomore, returns and there’s a trio of Alaska freshman — 5-7 Brittany Anderson of Eielson, 5-4 Adrienne Beans of Galena and 5-7 Christina Savel of Glennallen — on the roster.

Sharee Miller, a freshman guard from Eielson, decided not to play this season.

Thompson, who led the Hutchison Hawks to the Class 3A boys state championship last March, takes over the helm from Darryl Smith, who suddenly resigned last summer citing the need to be closer to his daughter in Montana.

After going 5-4 in preseason games under Smith, the Nanooks were bitten by the injury bug and lost all 16 GNAC games to finish with a 5-20 record.

Thompson said he likes the versatility on this year’s roster.

“With all the versatility we have, we’ll be able to establish a good rotation. We’re going to improve with every game and win some games,” Thompson said.

The Nanooks have been practicing for about a month, and Thompson likes what he’s seen so far.

“We’re trying to get better every day and we are,” he said. “We’re looking forward to the challenge of competition.”

Just how competitive the Nanooks will be remains to be seen as they go up against a tough pre-conference schedule.

In addition to the Hawaii-Hilo games, the Nanooks will play Gannon, Henderson State and West Florida in the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational on Thanksgiving weekend, NYACK on Dec. 4, Grand Canyon and BYU Hawaii at the AT&T Classic on Dec. 11-12 in Anchorage, and Cal State San Bernardino and UC San Diego at the UCSD Classic on Dec. 18-19 in San Diego.

Following is what Thompson had to say about players on this year’s roster:

• Ronisha Edwards: It doesn’t hurt that we have a player returning who averaged almost a double-double in every game last year ... She developed a leadership role last year ... She’s very positive and upbeat ... Her versatility will be huge for us ... She’s a real weapon from any part of the floor.

• Brittany Aldrich: A fundamental player who shoots the 3 really well ... She’s going to be a great wing player for us ... She’s good at spotting up and good at driving.

• Jessica Harrison: She’s definitely going to help us inside ... She’s a good post player high and low ... People are going to enjoy seeing her play because she has such a soft shot around the basket ... She has a very positive attitude.

• Caitlin Hamsley: She’s a tremendous player and it will be really good to get her back at point guard.

• Adrienne Beans: I am thrilled to have her walk on to the team ... She’s really strong with the ball and is another player who is a great 3-point shooter ... She’s definitely going to log some minutes for us.

• Denise Benavides: She takes pride in her defense ... She’s a good passer as well ... She’ll be more of a point or two-combo guard.

• Brittany Anderson: She’ll probably be a point guard ... She’s a really versatile player, who is fast in transition ... She’ll get the opportunity to log a lot of minutes.

• Alexandra Melonson: She plays the point really well ... She can get to the basket really well ... She led her team (Mt. Hood Community College) in free throws last year ... She’s an excellent ball-handler who can shoot it from the outside pretty well.

• Grace Milliken: She really came into her own last season ... She’s a really good team player ... She’s always in good position on the floor ... She makes a lot of good decisions and does a lot of little things well.

• Lakeshia Levi: People are really going to enjoy watching her play ... She runs the floor really well ... She’s strong and will be a great presence inside for us ... She’s really skilled around the basket.

• Nicole Bozek: She’s been working hard in the weight room and is getting healthier every day ... She’s a real threat inside and outside ... There’s a lot of places on the floor that she can hurt you from.

• Jessie Craig: She’s really positive and works hard ... She picks us up quite a bit ... She can have a strong presence inside for us.

• Christina Savel: She was leader on the Glennallen team that went to state for the first time in 20 years ... She really wants to help you win ... She works hard to help the team be better.

Contact sports editor Bob Eley at 459-7581.