UPCOMING
Westward Ho! The University of Mary goes California Dreamin' to wrap up its non-conference schedule when the Marauders take a trip to San Diego. U-Mary will play the Saint Katherine College Firebirds on Friday, Nov. 21, in Encinitas, Calif. Game time is 9 PM CST / 7 PM Pacific... On Saturday, Nov. 22, the Marauders visit the Point Loma Nazarene University Sea Lions in San Diego. Tip off for the Sea Lions homecoming game is 10 PM CST / 8 PM Pacific at Golden Gymnasium.

RECORDS
The Marauders are off to a 1-1 start in non-conference play... This is the season opener for the Firebirds... The Sea Lions are 3-0 with all their wins coming at home.

LIVE COVERAGE
There is no live coverage available for the Marauders game at Saint Katherine... Live video is available for the Point Loma game at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/plnu/ for the cost of $8.95... Links to live video and stats can also be found on www.GoUMary.com... Regular radio coverage will begin when U-Mary hosts Minot State University on Saturday, Nov. 29.

HISTORY
This is the first time the Marauders have played Saint Katherine College and Point Loma Nazerene University.

THE OPPONENT: Saint Katherine College
A relatively young school, Saint Katherine College was established in 2010 with an affiliation to Orthodox Christianity and had an enrollment of 102 a year ago. Much of the enrollment is through athletics as Saint Katherine's fields eight athletic teams. The Firebirds are just in their second season of collegiate basketball. In their first, the Firebirds finished 6-21 in a schedule that featured NCAA Division I schools San Diego State University, Utah Valley and Weber State. Saint Katherine has a new head coach this season, Jose de ala Garma. Senior guard Dante Miller is the leading returning scorer. He averaged 13.9 points per game, shot 33.1 percent on treys and 49 per cent overall, and led the team with 35 steals. Overall the team returns seven players.  

THE OPPONENT: Point Loma Nazarene University
The 2014 NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) national champion, Point Loma is in its first year as an active member of NCAA Division II and is now eligible for PacWest and NCAA postseason competition. Last year the Sea Lions finished 20-11 overall and 10-10 in the PacWest to place seventh. PLNU returns its top four scorers and six of seven from a team that averaged 76 points per game and shot 48.9 per cent from the floor. The Sea Lions are off to a 3-0 start this season with all three wins coming at home. The first two wins were over Western Oregon and Saint Martin's as part of the PacWest/GNAC Challenge. Junior Morgan leads the team in scoring at 15.0 points per game, followed by Sam Okhotin at 10. Morgan is a 6-7 senior forward who was an All-PacWest honorable mention selection last year. Senior 6-5 guard Hayden Lescault was the PacWest Newcomer of the Year last season and earned second team all-conference honors after averaging over 16 points per game.  

LAST WEEK
The Marauders split a pair of games on their opening weekend of the season. U-Mary opened with a 61-49 win at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Led by Damonta Henry with 13 points, four Marauders reached double figures (Marquealis Edwards, Germain Decoste and Brenden Mann each had 10). Defensively the Marauders held the Hardrockers to a field goal percentage of 31.5. Offensively the Marauders shot 48.8 per cent from the floor... The Marauders dropped their home opener 81-75 to Dickinson State in a wide-open affair that featured 21 lead changes and 12 ties. U-Mary took its final lead of the night at 69-68 on a Mann triple but DSU took the lead for good on a Curtis Mann three-point play with 1:35 left in the game. The Blue Hawks held off the Marauders by making 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute of play. Edwards led the Marauders with 19 points and six assists. Henry and Devan Douglas both added 14 points and Jaycob Velasco had 12 off the bench. Tevin Russell scored a game-high 21 points for the Blue Hawks. U-Mary shot just 42.9 per cent from the floor while Dickinson State shot 56.3 percent.

EDWARDS MAKES RETURN
After injuring his knee in the fourth game of last season and missing the rest of the year, Marquealis Edwards is back in the starting lineup. The junior point guard opened the season with 10 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. He followed with 19 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals against Dickinson State. In the two games Edwards has hit 11-of-12 free throws but is a combined 7-of-19 from the floor. He is averaging 14.5 points, 6.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals after two games.

OH HENRY
Damonta Henry is off to a strong start, posting double digit points in each of the first two games. Showing off identical 4-of-9 shooting performances against both SDSMT and DSU, the sophomore guard scored 13 points against the Hardrockers and 14 against the Blue Hawks. Henry is a perfect 9-of-9 at the free throw line.

THREAT FOR THREE
After sitting last season, redshirt freshman Brenden Mann is off to a strong start this season. In his first collegiate game, the guard from Litteton, Colo., knocked down three three-pointers in four attempts and scored 10 points at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (Note: Mann should be credied with 12 points in his debut but official stats have not yet been recalculated). Mann followed up by making 2-of-3 shots behind the arc and scoring six points against Dickinson State. His last three in the game gave U-Mary its last lead of the game at 69-68. In two games he is 5-of-8 on 3-point attempts and is averaging 8.0 points per game.

FREE THROW TURNAROUND
In the Marauders season opener at South Dakota School of Mines, U-Mary made just 14-of-25 free throws in a 61-49 win. The Marauders improved at the line in the second game, making 18 of 21 attempts at the line, but fell 81-75 to Dickinson State.

SHARE
The Marauders had ten different players score in the win over SDSMT. Seven players reached the scoring column in the loss to Dickinson State.

NEXT UP
The Marauders open the Northern Sun season when they host Minot State University on Saturday, Nov. 29. Game time is 6 PM at the McDowell Activity Center.  

EXPERIENCE
The Marauders returns eight players that saw significant action last season and a ninth that who started before an injury ended his season.

MARAUDERS PICKED 13th IN NSIC PRESEASON POLL
After finishing tied for 12th last season, the University of Mary is was picked to finish 13th overall in the 2014-15 Northern Sun Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Marauders are picked 6th in the NSIC North Division. Minnesota State University is the unanimous choice in the coaches' poll to win the NSIC in 2014-15, followed by Augustana, MSU Moorhead, Winona State, St. Cloud State, Northern State, Minnesota Duluth, Sioux Falls, Southwest Minnesota State, Upper Iowa, Bemidji State, Concordia – St. Paul, U-Mary, Minot State, Wayne State and Minnesota Crookston. The NSIC North Division is projected as: MSUM, SCSU, NSU, UMD, BSU, U-Mary, Minot State and UMC. Minnesota State is picked to win the south division, followed by Augie, WSU, USF, SMSU, UIU, CSP and WSC.