FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech women's basketball team looks to return to its winning ways after dropping three of their last four games when they host Cornerstone on Wednesday before heading to Madonna on Saturday.
 
Indiana Tech (10-6, 6-2 WHAC)
 
Wednesday, Jan. 6, 6 p.m. vs. Cornerstone (8-7, 6-2 WHAC) – Fort Wayne, Indiana (Schaefer Center)
Saturday, Jan. 9, 1 p.m. at Madonna (4-8, 4-4 WHAC) – Livonia, Michigan (The Activities Center)
 
Following the Warriors: Live video and stats will be available at for the Cornerstone game 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: The Warriors fell to #25 Lawrence Tech, 61-54, on Saturday, snapping a six-game conference winning streak for the Orange and Black. Taylor Seiss led the Warriors with a team-high 18 points while grabbing five rebounds. Haley Cook added 15 points, three rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. Taylor Carver chipped in with eight points and five rebounds while Rayana Villalpando had a game-high six assists and pulled down four boards.
 
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: Cornerstone – The Golden Eagles struggled in the nonconference portion of their schedule, going 2-5 but playing three teams ranked or receiving votes. Cornerstone has won four straight games in WHAC play and is tied for third with the Warriors in the conference standings. Jesse Sheridan leads the team in scoring with 15.0 points per game while shooting 44.1% from the field. Jill Steenwky leads the team in rebounding with 6.3 boards a night and is averaging 10.2 points per contest as well.
 
Madonna – The Crusaders travel to Siena Heights on Wednesday before hosting Tech this weekend. All four of the Crusaders wins have come in conference play and they have won their past two WHAC games. Lindsey Hernden leads the team in scoring (16.5 points per game) and assists (3.5 per game). Becca Sabol is averaging 9.8 rebounds per game while putting up 14.1 points per contest.
 
Series History: Cornerstone – The Warriors are 10-22 against the Golden Eagles since Jan. 10, 2001, and have split the last four matchups. Each side held serve on its home court a season ago, with Cornerstone prevailing in the first matchup, 73-57, on Jan. 7 before Tech took down a receiving votes Golden Eagles squad on Feb. 4, 61-56. Taylor Carver averaged 13.5 points in the two meetings while Taylor Seiss averaged 12.5 points in the two games.
 
Madonna – Tech is 8-14 against the Crusaders since Jan. 11, 2006, but has lost three straight in the yearly series. Madonna ended the Warriors season a year ago with a 70-56 win in the WHAC Quarterfinals. Taylor Seiss and Taylor Carver both had 10 points in the season finale against the ranked Crusaders.
 
Looking to Stay Ahead of the Pack: With Tech and Cornerstone tied for third in the WHAC with 6-2 marks, Wednesday's showdown is all the more important for both sides. A win for the Warriors would put them all alone in third place and keep them within two games of eighth ranked Davenport and No. 25 Lawrence Tech.
 
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.
 
Long-Range Offense: Tech uses the three point as a critical part of their offensive game plan and they have made great use of it, converting 36.4% of their shots from downtown, the 13^th best mark in the country. Their 122 three pointers is good for 17^th in the nation while they make an average of 7.6 triples per game, putting them in 21^st among the NAIA.
 
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 12 of the teams 16 games, and the pair average 29.4 points per game. Seiss is fifth in the WHAC in scoring at 15.1 points per contest while Cook is eighth and averaging 14.1 points a night. The duo also finds themselves among the top-50 in the nation in several offensive categories. Seiss is 11^th in total three point field goals made (45), 18^th in three point field goals made per game (2.8), 26^th in three point field goal percentage (42.5%) and 40^th in total scoring (241). Cook is 14^th in free throw percentage (84.5%), tied for 37^th in total three point field goals made (35) and 48^th in total scoring (228).
 
Commanding the Floor: Senior point guard Rayana Villalpando has been in control of the offense of Coach Biggs all four of her years in the Summit City and has never averaged less than 3.6 assists per game in a season. This year she is dishing out 4.0 assists per game while also doing work on the glass with a career-best 5.0 rebounds per game turning the ball over a career-low 2.6 times per game. She's also averaging 6.9 points per game while shooting an efficient 42.6%. The Bellflower, California native is tied for 17^th in the country in total assists (65) while ranking 25^th in assists per game.
 
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 had a season-high five blocks against Lawrence Tech on Jan. 2…Tech also held the Blue Devils to just 11 three point shots and only two makes from behind the arc, both season-lows for the team…Kendall Knapke tied her career high in blocks with three against Saint Francis on Dec. 29, she also recorded three against Huntington 10 days earlier.

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.

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.