JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman women's basketball coach Mike Mincey announced that Newport, Tenn. native Mika Wester has transferred from Western Carolina to Carson-Newman and will be eligible to suit up for the 2016-17 season with three years of eligibility remaining.

"Like a lot of our Division I transfers, Mika was a local player we had recruited and offered out of high school," Mincey said. "We are extremely excited Mika has decided to transfer back home and play for Carson-Newman. She is a perfect fit within our system on the floor and most importantly a great fit for how we conduct ourselves off the floor. Mika will bring a lot of length to the guard position and help in many ways. We plan to play her at both the guard spot and potentially as a stretch 4.  As a 5'11" lefty she can handle the ball as well as any guard we have and her midrange game is as good as any."

Wester was an all-state selection her senior season by the Tennessee Sports Writers' Association at Cocke County High School where she tallied 1,762 points and a 20.6 points per game scoring average. She was a three-star prospect coming out of high school according to Prospects Nation, the leader for women's basketball recruiting.

The Newport, Tenn. native played in nine games at Western Carolina during the 2015-16 season where she averaged three points and 1.1 rebounds per game. Wester's best performance during the year was on Nov. 21, 2015 when she scored seven points going 3-for-6 from the floor with three rebounds in 17 minutes of action.

Her father, Wade, played basketball at Tennessee Tech and was an all-state selection at Cocke County in 1988 while her mother, Linda, was a dancer for the Golden Eagles.

Wester joins Chanler Geer (Bearden High School), Tori Griffin (Jefferson County High) and Madison Brantley (Union County) as newcomers to the 2016-2017 roster. 

"What I like most about this class is the overall size of the players," Mincey said. "Every newcomers is at least 5'9" and all have good athleticism. If there is one thing we've missed over the last couple of years it's been length on the perimeter and that's about to change.  We willl only have 2 players shorter than 5'7"and Briana Smith at 5'6" plays bigger than her size. The 2016-2017 edition of the Lady Eagles should be a fun team to watch."