Mercer’s Women’s Basketball team has a current season record of 2-6 but the season has just begun, with 17 games remaining.
This year marks head coach Mike Tenaglia’s twenty-eighth season with Mercer. Tenaglia has over 350 wins under his belt, with a streak of 14 consecutive winning seasons.
Sharing his hopes for the new season, Tenaglia said, “I anticipate this team will be a competitive team, and I’m hoping they will.”
Mercer has 11 total players, five of which are returning sophomore players. Tenaglia appointed sophomore Madison Diaz as Team Captain.
Diaz said she would like to “beat teams we really aren’t expected to because…it’s exciting being the underdogs.”
The Vikings prepared for the start of the season by playing two scrimmages in October, with a final scrimmage against Ocean County Community College on Tuesday, Oct. 29.
Tenaglia said, “[A scrimmage is] an opportunity for [the players] to experience college basketball, for the freshmen at least, before we actually have games. You know, it’s more of a learning experience than anything, and hopefully we learn some things from that.”
Besides the scrimmage, the Women’s Vikings have done a lot to prepare for the upcoming season.
According to Athletic Director John Simone, the girls practice at least five days every week. They have practiced both individual and team based drills.
Tenaglia said, “I think if we get to the Region Tournament, anything beyond that would be gravy.”
