Men’s Preview

As the fall sports schedule slowly starts to come to an end, the winter sports schedule is just beginning, which means that basketball season is yet again upon us.

This season, the men’s team hopes to improve in the winning category after going 11-20 overall and 7-15 in the WHAC.

This season should be more interesting than some of the recent seasons due to the transfer of guard Christian Covile, who left the program and went to play at Adrian College this season. Despite the loss of Covile, the Saints team doesn’t think they will lose a step, even though they are young due to having a lot of freshmen and sophomores.

Senior Lavario Smith, who will be taking a redshirt year after suffering a torn ACL in the middle of last year, said the team needs to continue working on their toughness and being more aggressive as a unit.

Smith said expectations for his team are high by head coach Joe Pechota. He wants them to have a winning season and to win the conference championship, as well as all of their home games.

“The most exciting thing my team has to offer is the positive energy,” said Smith.

Smith mentioned this because he believes that having a positive mindset will be key to their success.

“Going to practice every day is awesome,” said Smith. “I can be having a bad day and then get to practice and my energy changes all because of my teammates.”

Smith also believes that this year’s team has improved on their togetherness as a team and despite an opening loss to Goshen (Ind.) on Nov. 3, they are still there for each other.

“We are not pointing fingers at each other, instead we are continuing to pick each other up for the good or bad,” said Smith.

Smith believes that the SHU community should know that the basketball team is on the rise.

“Our team togetherness, and Saints pride is on a very high level,” said Smith. “Please don’t sleep on the basketball team because we have the team to go all the way.”

The Saints will have their home opener against Concordia at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14. The game is the fourth annual “Hunger Games” where food that is donated prior to the event will be donated to the Daily Bread food pantry in Adrian.

Women’s Preview

This season for the women’s team should be interesting after losing All-American guard Sierra Calhoun and sharp-shooter Morgan Warfield and others to graduation. Calhoun carried the team statistically, leading them to a 26-8 overall record and 18-4 record in the WHAC, including an appearance in the NAIA Tournament.

After an impressive second place finish last year, finishing behind Davenport University, which was a top five nationally ranked team last year, the Saints under head coach Sue Syljebeck are looking to carry that momentum over into this season in order to stay on the right track.

Sophomore Caroline Streeter, who is one of a select few players on the roster last season, has expectations to carry on the tradition and success of the program and to hopefully get a conference championship while qualifying for the national tournament again. Streeter said she is most excited about the speed that the team has to offer this season, resulting in them hopefully being able to push the ball up the floor a lot more, while still working on a few minor things.

“We need to continue working on our team defense because that is something we really take pride in,” said Streeter.

With the youth that the team is going to have to embrace this season, Streeter said the Saints believe that the improvements that they make together as a unit will result in their success throughout the season.

“We have improved on our intensity and dedication,” said Streeter. “People are always in the gym getting extra shots up and improving their game.”

While they look to continue staying on the winning tradition that they have the past few seasons, the Saints are experiencing something that hasn’t been common over the past years: relying on their youth to contribute to the team.

Streeter said she would like the SHU community and fan base to know that this team is hungry and working hard every day, and they’re going to need all of the support they can get this year in order to help them win games, especially the close ones.

The Saints will open up at home against Spring Arbor University at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11. Following the home opener, the Saints will also take part in the “Hunger Game” event against Concordia on Saturday, Nov. 14. Game time is 5:30 p.m.