FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech women's basketball team looks to finish the regular season on a high note and head into the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Tournament with momentum on their side as they take on Cornerstone and Madonna in critical games to decide tournament seeding.
 
Indiana Tech (18-10, 14-6 WHAC)
 
Wednesday, Feb. 17, 5:30 p.m. at Cornerstone (16-11, 14-6 WHAC) – Grand Rapids, Michigan (Mol Arena)
Saturday, Feb. 20, 1 p.m. vs. Madonna (15-9, 15-5 WHAC) – Fort Wayne, Indiana (Schaefer Center) Senior Day
 
Following the Warriors: Live stats and video will be available for both games with links at IndianaTechWarriors.com. You can also follow @INTechWBB and @INTechWarriors on Twitter to stay up to date on the action.
 
Last Time Out: The Warriors saw its five game winning streak snapped by #17 Lawrence Tech on Saturday afternoon, falling 72-59. Haley Cook led the Warriors with a game-high 22 points, and also grabbed four rebounds and picked up a pair of steals. Taylor Seiss added 16 points while Taylor Carver chipped in nine points and four rebounds. Kendall Knapke, Sarah White and Rayana Villalpando each pulled down nine rebounds apiece.
 
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: Cornerstone – The Golden Eagles have won their last two games, most recently knocking off Marygrove, 87-48, on Saturday. Jesse Sheridan leads the team in scoring (15.9 ppg) and steals (2.1 spg) while Jill Steenwyk chips in 8.7 points a night and grabs a team-best 6.1 rebounds per game while ranking 30^th in the nation in blocks per game (1.5). Sheridan's free throw percentage of .874 is the fourth-best mark in the country.
 
Madonna – The Crusaders will host Siena Heights on Wednesday before coming to Fort Wayne this weekend and are one of the hottest teams in the WHAC right now, only losing once since the calendar turned to 2016 and have one their past six games. Becca Sabol leads the team in scoring (16.4 ppg), rebounding (10.3 rpg), steals (1.8 spg) and blocks (2.1 bpg) while shooting 51.7% from the floor and is among the top-40 in the nation in scoring (36^th), rebounding (12^th), blocks (13^th) and shooting (24^th). Lindsey Hernden is averaging 16 ppg and is shooting 37.2% from behind the arc and averaging 3.5 threes per game, the sixth-best mark in the country.
 
Series History: Cornerstone – Tech is 10-23 against the Golden Eagles since Jan. 10, 2001, most recently falling in their most recent matchup on Jan. 6, 81-69. Taylor Carver led the Warriors with a season-high 26 points, on 10-of13 shooting, and pulled down eight rebounds. Haley Cook added 18 points, five rebounds and four assists. Taylor Seiss also scored in double figures with 10 points while Rayana Villalpando had seven points and a game-high six assists.
 
Madonna – The Warriors are 8-15 against the Crusaders since Jan. 11, 2006, losing the past five matchups, most recently on Jan. 9, 82-71. 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.
 
Tournament Possibilities: With just two games left in the regular season Tech finds itself tied for fifth with Cornerstone and a game back of Madonna. The Warriors could finish anywhere between number three and number six in the WHAC and impacting where and who they would play in the conference tournament. The Orange and Black would get the three seed if the beat both the Golden Eagles and Crusaders and Madonna loses to Siena Heights on Wednesday. The first game of the WHAC Tournament will be held on Feb. 25 at 7 pm.
 
Honoring the Seniors: Senior Day festivities will be held prior to Saturday's game against Madonna, where head coach Jessie Biggs and the team will honor their two seniors, forward Taylor Carver and point guard Rayana Villalpando.
 
Picking Up the Votes: The Warriors picked up eight points in last week's NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll (Feb. 9), placing them 32^nd in the country. It is Tech's first appearance in receiving votes section of the rankings since March 5, 2014, when they picked up three votes in final regular season poll. The next edition of the poll will be released on Tuesday evening.
 
500 Club: Rayana Villalpando made history back on Feb. 6 against Aquians as she surpassed the 500 career assist mark. Three days earlier against Marygrove she went over the 500 rebound career mark as well. The Warriors floor general has also scored over 600 points in her four years in the Summit City. She is the first Warrior to achieve the feat in recent memory and is one of just a few active players in the WHAC to achieve the feat.
 
Commanding the Floor: Villalpando has been at the helm of Coach Biggs' offense all four of her years in Fort Wayne and has never averaged less than 3.6 assists per game in a season. This year she is dishing out 4.3 apg and ranks first in the WHAC both total assists (119) and assists per game. The Bellflower, California native is also a key part of the Warriors rebounding effort, averaging 5.2 boards per contest and ranks 14^th in the nation in total assists and 22^nd in assists per game.
 
Finding Her Rhythm: Freshman forward and Heritage High School product Kendall Knapke has been solid for the Warriors all season long, starting every game while averaging 9.5 points and a team-best 7.1 rebounds per game. She anchors the backline of the Tech defense as well, averaging a team-high 1.5 blocks per game and picks the opponents' pockets 1.2 times a night, tied with Haley Cook for tops on the team. The Fort Wayne native is also a solid two-way player on the offensive end, shooting 42.5% from the field and stretching the floor with a 35.2% from downtown.
 
Backcourt Scoring: All Season long the bread and butter of the Warriors offensive attack has been the duo of backcourt duo of Taylor Seiss and Haley Cook. Cook leads the team in scoring with 16 ppg, while Seiss is just as deadly by dropping 15.5 points per contest. The pair have stepped their games up in conference play as well, with Cook averaging a WHAC-best 18.0 ppg in conference play and Seiss adding 16.8 points, the third-best mark in the league.
 
Carving Up the Post: Senior Taylor Carver has been an efficient scorer for the Orange and Black since transferring from Toledo after her freshman year. The Woodburn, Indiana native has never shot worse than 42.6% from the field and is shooting a career-best 48.8% this season while averaging 11.8 points per game. She is tied for second on the team in rebounding with 5.2 boards a night and has started 27 of the 28 games this year.
 
Long-Range Offense: Tech's sharp-shooters are converting 42.6% of their shots from the field, 37.2% of their shots from downtown this season and shooting free throws at a 74.9% clip, ranking among the top-30 in the nation in all three categories. Their three-point field goal percentage ranks fifth in the country while they're 12^th in free throw percentage and 26^th in field goal percentage.
 
Sharp-Shooting: The Cook-Seiss duo is leading the charge when it comes to raining threes down on their opponents. The pair have combined for 155 triples on the year while both are averaging over two and a half per game. Cook leads the WHAC percentage-wise at 41.9% while Seiss is right behind at 41.7%. Siess's 83 three-pointers rank ninth in the nation.
 
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.
 
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…Tech held UNOH without a three-pointer in their meeting last Wednesday, the first time the Warriors have held their opponent without a triple this season…the Orange and Black only shot 17.4% from the three-point line against Lawrence Tech, snapping a 11-game run of hitting 33.3% or better from downtown…in their last matchup against Cornerstone the Warriors shot a season-low 16.7% from behind the arc.
 
Local Flavor: The Warriors have five players who played their high school basketball 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 eight teams ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll at the time of play: Davenport (#2 and #8), Marian (#9), Purdue Calumet (#11) Huntington (#20), Lawrence Tech (#25 and #17) and Saint Francis (RV).
 
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.