FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech women's basketball team continues its four-game road trip with a pair of games against Saints this week as they take on Siena Heights and Aquinas.
 
Indiana Tech (7-3, 4-1 WHAC)
 
Wednesday, Dec. 9, 6 p.m. – vs. RV Siena Heights (5-4, 2-3 WHAC) – Adrian, Michigan (Fred Smith Court at the Siena Heights Fieldhouse)
Saturday, Dec. 12, 1 p.m. at Aquinas (3-9, 2-4 WHAC) – Grand Rapids, Michigan (Sturrus Sports & Fitness Center)
 
Following the Warriors: Links to live stats and video will be available for the Siena Heights contest at IndianaTechWarriors.com, while live audio and stats will be provided for the Aquinas game. You can also follow @INTechWBB and @INTechWarriors on Twitter to catch the action.
 
Last Time Out: Tech pushed its winning streak to five games on Saturday as they defeated Concordia, 76-54. Freshman Kendall Knapke led all scorers with a career high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-7 from behind the three point line. She also pulled down eight rebounds while recording a pair of assists, blocks and steals. Senior Taylor Carver added 15 points with five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Haley Cook and Taylor Seiss also scored in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Cook added a team-high nine rebounds while Seiss dished out a game-high five assists.
 
Head Coach Jessie Biggs: Now in fourth season at Indiana Tech, Jessie Biggs has amassed 44 wins through her first three years, including a 19-13 mark in 2013. That season, Biggs led the Warriors to a 14-7 mark in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) action and a fourth-place finish. The Warriors would defeat Aquinas in the quarterfinals before falling to top seed and No. 2 Davenport in the semifinals. The Northern Iowa alum has had five players on the WHAC All-Academic Team, five WHAC All-Conference selections, two NAIA All-Americans, two NAIA Scholar-Athlete and one WHAC All-Newcomer Team selection.
 
Scouting the Opposition: Siena Heights – The Saints picked up three votes in the first edition of the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll (second edition to be announced later today) and snapped a two-game losing skid on Saturday with a 75-44 victory over Marygrove. April Watson leads the team with 14.1 points per game and 9.0 rebounds a contest while shooting 53.8% from the floor. Lauren Wirth adds 8.7 points and 8.0 rebounds a night for Siena Heights.
 
Aquinas – The Saints have dropped their last two games, most recently falling to Madonna, 79-53, on the road Monday. McKenzie Breimayer and Katie Theut lead the team in scoring with 9.9 and 9.3 points a game while Breimayer dishes out a team-best 2.8 assists per contest. Tyra Williams grabs 6.0 rebounds a night and shoots 44.6% from the field.
 
Series History: Siena Heights – Tech is 6-16 against the Saints since the 2005-06 season, having lost the last three in the series. Taylor Carver scored 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds and picked up five steals in the last matchup, a 69-55 loss in overtime in Adrian.
 
Aquinas ­– The Warriors are 7-16 against the Saints since 2005 and have won past three in a row. Taylor Carver scored a career high 28 points in the last meeting, a 74-67 win at the Schaefer Center, while also pulling down nine rebounds.
 
Twice as Nice: Sophomore guard Haley Cook was named the WHAC Player of the Week for the second time this season on Dec. 7 after scoring 38 points over the week of Nov. 29-Dec. 6, including a career-high 26 in a 96-72 win over Lourdes last Wednesday. She also grabbed five boards and dished out a career high seven assists in the win. In the 76-54 victory over Concordia on Saturday, she notched 12 points while pulling down a career high nine boards and three assists. Cook also won the weekly conference award on Nov. 23.
 
Efficient Scoring: The Warriors are shooting 45.6% from the field and 35.7% from behind the arc this season, the 10^th and 21^st-best marks in the country, respectively, while averaging 77.7 points a game, ranking 19^th in the country. Taylor Carver is hitting 51.0% of her shots, ranking 28^th, while Haley Cook is 45^th in three point shooting percentage, hitting 41.5% of her attempts.
 
Getting Defensive: Head coach Jessie Biggs teaches toughness to her players and it's resonating this year on defense as the Warrior have only allowed three teams, then-No. 2 Davenport, then-No. 9 Marian and Lourdes, to score more than 70 points this season. Tech has given up less than 60 points five games this year, including three-straight games of not allowing a team to score more than 44 points.
 
Getting Defensive II: The Orange and Black's suffocating defense has put them among the best in the nation when it comes to locking down an opponent. Tech's opponents are shooting just 35.6% from the field and 28.0% from behind the three point line, ranking as the 27^th and 30^th-best team in the nation, respectively. They stand at 31^st in the country in scoring defense per game, giving up only 60.7 points a contest.
 
Lighting it Up: Taylor Seiss has been a threat to score from almost anywhere on the court, shooting 46.2% from the floor and 39.7% from behind the arc for a team-best 14.0 points per game. Her shooting ability, especially from deep, has given opponents fits all season long. Her 26 triples are tied for 22^nd in all of NAIA Division II, while her 2.60 three pointers per game is tied for 27^th in the nation.
 
This and That: Tech is outscoring its opponents in every period this season…the Orange and Black set season highs against Lourdes in three points field goals (15) and three point field goal attempts (29)…Rayana Villalpando tied her season high in assists this season with nine against the Gray Wolves…
 
Hitting Her Mark: Freshman forward Kendall Knapke has been an efficient scorer for Tech this season, shooting 55.6% from the floor and 43.6% from behind the three point line. She scored a career high 22 points in the win over Concordia on Dec. 5, hitting 9-of-14 from the field and 4of-7 from behind the arc. She's fourth on the team in scoring (10.5 ppg), first in rebounding (6.2 rpg), steals (1.4 spg) and blocks (0.9 bpg).
 
New Rules, Same Game: With all the rule changes that were passed over the summer in the NCAA, the NAIA has adopted those same rules. Instead of two 20-minute halves, teams will now play four 10-minute quarters. Teams will reach the bonus once its opponents have committed five fouls in a given quarter. 1-and-1 free-throw scenarios have been eliminated in favor of two shots for all common fouls. And teams will now have the option to advance the ball to the frontcourt in the final 59.9 seconds of the game.
 
Stacking Up Against the Competition: The Warriors have faced off with three teams ranked in the NAIA Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll: No. 2 Davenport, No. 9 Marian and No. 11 Purdue Calumet. Tech will take on five more teams that are ranked or receiving votes in the Top 25, No. 17 Huntington (Dec. 19), No. 20 Saint Francis (Dec. 29), while and Lawrence Tech and Siena Heights picked up 44 and 3 votes, respectively, in the first regular season poll.
 
Poll Thoughts: Tech was picked to finish fifth in the WHAC Coaches' Preseason Poll, receiving 83 votes to finish in a tie with Lawrence Tech. The Warriors finished in sixth last season with a mark of 11-11 in the conference, falling in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament to third seeded Madonna.
 
Staying Close to Home: Freshman Kendall Knapke didn't have to look far away when making her college decision. The Heritage High School product decided to stay in Fort Wayne when she signed with the Warriors last winter. The 5'11" forward averaged 10.5 points per game and 5.3 rebounds in her final prep season with the Patriots and is expected to start right away for the Orange and Black.