Women's Basketball 11/9/2016 10:14:00 AM By David Nelson, Athletic Communications Manager

Lady Reds Open 2016-17 With Three-Game Road Swing

THE GAME

-The Carthage College women's basketball team will open the 2016-17 campaign at Loras College on Tuesday, November 15 at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Reds will compete in the Wisconsin Lutheran Classic against Bethel University on Friday, November 18 at 5:00 p.m. before taking on No. 12 UW-River Falls on Saturday, November 19 at 1:00 p.m. in Milwaukee, Wis.

-Tuesday's bout will also be Loras's first of the season. The Duhawks, who finished last season with a 19-9, 10-4 IIAC record, registered the 2015-16 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Championship. Their 2015-16 campaign ended in a 86-78 loss to St. Thomas (Minn.) in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament. Senior Terese McMahon is the Duhawk returning-leading scorer with 12.5 points per game last season.

-Bethel ended the 2015-16 season with a 16-10, 12-6 MIAC record, good enough for fifth place in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Returning for the Royals is Kalli Zimmerman, who tallied 13.2 points per game last season.

-No. 12 UW-River Falls notched the 2015-16 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship with a 23-6, 12-2 WIAC record. The Falcons fell to University of St. Thomas 67-46 in the second round of the 2015-16 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament. Back for the Falcons is Taylor Karge and Brynn Liljander, who tallied 14.2 and 14.0 points per game respectively last season.

THE SERIES

-The Lady Reds own a 7-3 all-time record against Loras College, and a 4-1 mark against UW-River Falls. Carthage and Bethel (Minn.) will square off for the first time ever.

THE COACHES

-Justin Heinzen will begin his 10th season at Loras. Jon Herbrechtsmeyer will embark on his 15th season at Bethel, while Cindy Holbrook will begin her 17th at UW-River Falls.

LAST TIME OUT

-Carthage closed the 2015-16 season with a 9-16, 5-9 CCIW record, good enough for sixth place in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.

-Morgan Harris (17.0) and Bailey Gilbert (13.3) each averaged in double-figures last season for the Lady Reds.

-Carthage will look to rebound from three-straight losses suffered at the tail-end of the 2015-16 season. Those three defeats came from North Central College (87-109), Wheaton College (49-79) and Millikin University (61-71).

-The Lady Reds will look to find the win column for the first time since a 72-65 decision over Augustana College on February 6, 2016.

LAW OF AVERAGES

Harris tallied 17.0 points per game last season. The last Lady Red basketball player to eclipse that was Angela Beyer, who tallied 17.6 points per game in 2003-04. Harris's 17.0 points per game ranks 10th on the Carthage College all-time single-season scoring average list.

COMING AND GOING

The Lady Reds return four starters in Harris, Gilbert, Morgan Vukovich and Rachel Szydlowski. Erin Thomas is the only starter lost to graduation.

EIGHT IS GREAT

Anna Eksten, Madie Kaelber, Calli Linse, Autumn Kalis, Synclaire Lunardi, Maggie Berigan, Emmily Zinkiewicz and Gabby Butkute represent the eight freshman on the Carthage College roster.

RECORD WATCH

Harris currently ranks second on the Carthage College record book with an .800 (144-180) career free-throw percentage.

LEADING THE WAY

The Lady Reds paced the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin in fewest fouls (435), free-throw percentage (.755) and three-point field-goal percentage (.345) last season. Their .755 field goal percentage in 2015-16 ranked eighth in NCAA Division III. Harris led the CCIW with 34.78 minutes played per game last season. Gilbert ranked first in the conference with 69 three-point field goals made, 2.76 three-point field goals per game and a .392 three-point field-goal percentage in 2015-16.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

Bethel University, Stevenson University and Allegheny College make up the trio of opponents on the 2016-17 slate the Lady Reds have never faced.

DEJA VU???

The Lady Reds open the home portion of their schedule against Coe College on November 22. The last time Carthage played their first home game on November 22 was in 2014, when they defeated UW-La Crosse 62-41.

GOOD THINGS COME IN BUNCHES

The Lady Reds had multiple players with double-figure points in every game last season.

SPANNING THE BORDERS

The 2016-17 Lady Reds roster spans four states (Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Iowa.).

ON THE MIC

John Weiser will call Carthage College Lady Red basketball games for WLIP in 2016-17. Below is the tentative WLIP broadcast schedule for the Lady Reds:

November 15 | @ Loras College | 5:30 p.m.

November 22 | @ Coe College | 6:00 p.m.

November 30 | @ UW-Stevens Point | 7:00 p.m.

December 3 | vs. Millikin | 5:00 p.m.

December 7 | vs. Carroll | 7:00 p.m.

December 10 | @ Augustana | 5:00 p.m.

December 29 | vs. Stevenson | 4:00 p.m.

December 30 | vs. Allegheny | 12:00 p.m.

January 4 | vs. North Park | 7:00 p.m.

January 7 | vs. Elmhurst | 5:00 p.m.

January 14 | @ Illinois Wesleyan | 5:00 p.m.

January 21 | @ Wheaton | 5:00 p.m.