Regular opponents in the 1990s, the Muskies and the Firebirds-known then as the Reds or Lady Reds-have met just twice in the current millennium. The teams last met nearly eight years ago at the Woltzen Gymnasium, with Carthage pulling a 62-54 win Nov. 13, 2015 in the season-opening Lakeland Tip-Off Tournament that year. Lakeland's last win in the series came in the teams' last meeting down in Kenosha, prevailing 64-43 Nov. 28, 2000. That marked the Muskies' sixth straight win in the series, with all of those meetings coming between 1994-2000. The series dates back to 1986, when the teams split two meetings just over three weeks apart, with Lakeland winning the first-ever meeting 75-71 at home Jan. 16, 1986 before Carthage came back for an 87-54 win at home Feb. 8, 1986.

About Lakeland: The Muskies come into a new season after a good year, finishing 14-12 last year and posting a 12-6 mark in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. Lakeland posted a winning record for the first time since 2018-19, came in fifth in the NACC standings and advanced to the NACC Tournament, falling to Concordia Wisconsin at the buzzer.

The Muskies this year, though, will feature what is in many ways a nearly new team. Ashley Lona is in her first year as head coach, taking over after Amber Peterson left after three years for an assistant position at NCAA Division II Augustana (S.D.). Lakeland also will have an almost all-new team on the floor, with senior Kerstin Sauerbrei and junior Jenna Caterino the lone returning starters and the only regular rotation players returning. Eight other members of last year's team return, including a total of three seniors with Sauerbrei joined by Bree Arsenault and Sadie Conway, and they are joined by five newcomers for a 15-player roster. The Muskies also have a Carthage connection on their team, as first-year assistant coach Phil Welsh was an assistant coach with the Firebirds last year.

About Carthage: The Firebirds finished 9-17 overall last year and posted a 5-11 record to tie for sixth in the nine-team College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin. Just like Lakeland, Carthage also enters this season with a new coach in Megan Jones, who spent the previous two years as head coach at Monmouth (Ill.) College. Jones also is a former player and assistant at Luther (Iowa) College, and she takes over an experienced team that returns three starters, including top two scorers Lauren Knight and Marianna Morrissey, and seven of the top nine scorers in all. The Firebirds are searching for their first winning season since 2018-19, but the program knew considerable success before that, with winning records 12 of the previous 13 years, including four 20-win seasons from 2009-14.

On the mark: Kerstin Sauerbrei is without question the Muskies' most accomplished returnee, and opponents will certainly have an eye on her for her three-point prowess alone. Sauerbrei enters this season sixth all-time in school history in threes made with 119, and after hitting 53 triples last year and 64 the season before she has an eye on the school career record of 157 three-pointers made by Kristi (Thill) Bachar from 2001-06. Sauerbrei averaged 8.8 points per game two years ago and 7.8 points last year, and she also was among the team's leaders in steals the last two years, as well as another perhaps surprising area-blocked shots. Sauerbrei led the team with 20 blocks last year, and with 30 career blocks she is 20 blocks from entering Lakeland's top 15 all-time in that category.

Muskies in openers: All-time records dating to the program's earliest days in the mid-1970s are incomplete, but in records going back to 1981, Lakeland is 22-20 in season opening games. The Muskies lost to nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh teams in their opener each of the last two years and have lost their last four season debuts. Their last win to begin the season came in Nov. 2018 with a 55-53 win over UW-River Falls. Lakeland has met Carthage in its opener once, in 2015 in the teams' most recent meeting.