FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech women's basketball team hosts the University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) on Wednesday in a battle for outright control of fourth place in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) before traveling to Michigan-Dearborn on Saturday to open the second half of conference play.
 
Indiana Tech (10-8, 6-4 WHAC)
 
Wednesday, Jan. 13, 6 p.m. vs. Northwestern Ohio (9-9, 6-4 WHAC) – Fort Wayne, Indiana (Schaefer Center)
Saturday, Jan. 16, 1 p.m. at Michigan-Dearborn (0-17, 0-10 WHAC) – Dearborn, Michigan (UM-Dearborn Fieldhouse)
 
Following the Warriors: Live video and stats will be available for Wednesday's game against UNOH via Stretch's Internet Game Central, http://portal.stretchinternet.com/indianatech/. You can also follow @INTechWBB and @INTechWarriors on Twitter to stay up to date on the action.
 
Last Time Out: Tech fell to Madonna on Saturday, 82-71, for its third straight loss. Taylor Seiss scored a season-high 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting and was 6-of-12 from the three point line. Haley Cook and Kendall Knapke also scored in double figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Knapke grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and had two blocks and a pair of steals while Cook added four boards. Taylor Caver had eight points and five rebounds while Rayana Villalpando had four points, five rebounds and four assists.
 
Head Coach Jessie Biggs: Now in her 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: Northwestern Ohio – The Racers are at the end of a three-game road trip and have split their last four contests, most recently losing to No. 22 Lawrence Tech on the road, 73-63. Becca Harshman leads a balanced scoring effort for UNOH, who has four players averaging at least 9.6 points per game (ppg), by averaging 9.8 ppg while shooting 53.8% and pulling down a team-high 5.8 rebounds per game (rpg). Sogona Sidibe chips in 9.7 points a contest while shooting 51.4% and grabbing 5.7 boards a night.
 
Michigan-Dearborn – The Wolverines make the short trip to Madonna on Wednesday before hosting the Orange and Black on Saturday, but have not recorded a win all season. Megan Swick leads the team in scoring with 8.6 ppg while Kendall Rose averages 7.2 points a night. Marisa Sauve pulls down 6.1 rebounds a contest.
 
Series History: Northwestern Ohio – The Warriors are 7-6 against the Racers since 2008, and 6-4 since UNOH joined the WHAC in 2010. Northwestern Ohio has taken the last two in the series however, most recently a 70-68 victory on Feb. 14, 2015 in Fort Wayne. Taylor Seiss had a game-high 17 points while Taylor Carver had 16 points and seven rebounds.
 
Michigan-Dearborn – Tech is 14-7 against the Wolverines since the 2005-06 season, most recently winning 80-43 back on Nov. 21. Taylor Seiss led all scorers with 23 points while picking up a career-high five steals. Haley Cook and Kendall Knapke also scored in double figures with 18 and 16 points, respectively. Cook dished out a game-high six assists while pulling up down six rebounds and dishing out five assists. Knapke added seven rebounds and four steals.
 
Halfway Home: The Warriors will have played half of their conference slate following Wednesday's matchup with UNOH. Through 10 games Tech is tied with the Northwestern Ohio and Madonna for fourth place in the WHAC with 6-4 marks. A win against the Racers is critical as teams enter the second half of conference play this weekend and will be facing teams for the second time around.
 
Lighting it Up: At the forefront of the Warriors offensive attack is the duo of Taylor Seiss and Haley Cook. One of them has lead the Orange and Black in scoring in 13 of the teams 17 games, and the pair averages 29.8 points per game. The pair is also leading the WHAC in scoring in conference games, averaging 17.9 and 17.2 points per game, respectively. Seiss is shooting 47.9% from the three-point line, tops in the WHAC as well while Cook is tied for first in free throw shooting, hitting 86.4% of her shots from the charity stripe.
 
Commanding the Floor: Senior Rayana Villalpando has been at the point for coach Biggs all four of her years in the Summit City and has never averaged less than 3.6 assists per game (apg) in a season. This year she is dishing out 4.1 apg while averaging 4.3 dimes a night in conference play, ranking second in the WHAC. She is also cleaning up the glass nicely with a career-best 5.0 rebounds per game turning the ball over a career-low 2.6 times per game. Villalpando is also averaging 6.8 points per game while shooting 41.2% from the floor. The Bellflower, California native is tied for 17^th in the country in total assists (75) while ranking 23^rd in assists per game.
 
Long-Range Offense: Tech uses the three point shot as a major part of their offensive game plan and they have made great use of it, converting 36.0% of their shots from downtown, the 12^th-best mark in the country. Their 135 three pointers is tied for 19^th in the nation while they make an average of 7.5 triples per game, putting them in a tie for 24^th in the NAIA Division II.
 
Seizing The Awards: Junior Taylor Seiss was named the WHAC Player of the Week on Dec. 14 after averaging 19.5 points in wins against Siena Heights and Aquinas to help the Warriors push their winning streak to seven games. She shot 44.1% from the field and hit 43.8% of her three point attempts while also picking up five rebound, three assists and a block in over 73 minutes of game action.
 
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.
 
Local Flavor: The Warriors have five players who played their high school ball an hour or less drive to the Schaefer Center. Two hail from the Summit City, Taylor Seiss and Kendall Knapke, while Sarah White (Wabash), Baylee Rinehart (DeKalb), Taylor Carver (Woodburn) and Abby Waddle (Elida, Ohio) are just a half-court shot away.
 
This and That: Coach Biggs has started the same five players in every game but one (Bethel) this season: Rayana Villalpando, Haley Cook, Taylor Seiss, Kendall Knapke and Taylor Carver; Sarah White got the nod against the Pilots…the Warriors made a season-high 23 free throws while attempting a season-high 26 against Cornerstone…Tech held the Golden Eagles to a season-low 51 field goal attempts…Villalpando had a career-high 12 assists against the Racers on Jan. 10, 2015.
 
New Rules, Same Game: The NAIA has adopted many of the same rule changes that took place over the summer in the NCAA. 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, with 1-and-1 free-throw scenarios being 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 six teams ranked or receiving votes in any of the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll: then-No. 2 Davenport, then-No. 9 Marian, then-No. 11 Purdue Calumet, then-No. 20 Huntington, (RV) Saint Francis and No. 25 Lawrence Tech.
 
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.