FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The fourth-seeded Indiana Tech women's basketball team begins the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Tournament on Thursday when they host fifth-seeded Cornerstone inside the Schaefer Center.
 
Indiana Tech (20-10, 16-6 WHAC)
 
Thursday, Feb. 25, 7 p.m. vs. Cornerstone (16-11, 14-6 WHAC) – Fort Wayne, Indiana (Schaefer Center)
Saturday, Feb. 27, 1/3 p.m. WHAC Semifinals – Higher Seed
Tuesday, March 1, 7 p.m. WHAC Finals – Higher Seed
 
Following the Warriors: Live stats and video for Thursday's game will be available via Stretch Internet's 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 closed out its regular season with a 65-52 win over Madonna on Saturday. Haley Cook had a game-high 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists while shooting 7-of-18 from the field. Taylor Seiss scored 19 points and hit five three-pointers while playing all 40 minutes. Kendall Knapke recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and a career-high 16 rebounds while adding three blocks, two steals and two assists. Senior Rayana Villalpando has a solid all-around day on Senior Day, grabbing 11 rebounds while chipping in eight points and six assists. Classmate Taylor Carver added six rebounds while Baylee Rinehart chipped in six points off the bench.
 
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 dropped their final two games of the regular season, including a 74-52 defeat to the Warriors on Feb. 17 and most recently falling to No. 9 Davenport, 86-55. Jesse Sheridan leads the team in scoring (15.7 ppg) and steals (2.0 spg) while Jill Steenwyk chips in 8.6 points a night and grabs a team-best 6.0 rebounds per game while ranking 29^th in the nation in blocks per game (1.5).
 
Series History: Cornerstone – Tech is 11-23 against the Golden Eagles since Jan. 10, 2001, most recently winning in their most recent matchup on Feb. 17, 74-52. Haley Cook led the Orange and Black with 26 points, tying her career-high, on 6-of-14 shooting and 5-of-8 from the three-point line while also grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. She added two steals and two assists as well. Taylor Carver also had a double-double, her second of the year with 18 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Baylee Rinehart chipped in 12 points off the bench while Rayana Villalpando had a team-high seven assists and pulled down five rebounds.
 
Tournament History: The Orange and Black finished the regular season in a tie for third with Madonna and picked up the fourth seed for the WHAC Tournament. Tech has made the conference tournament every year since the 1999-2000 season and is 2-16 in tournament games since then.
 
Awards Time: The WHAC announced its postseason awards on Wednesday and there was not shortage of Warriors on the list. Haley Cook was named Co-Newcomer of the Year along with April Watson of Siena Heights and was named First-Team All-Conference in addition to All-Newcomer Team. Taylor Seiss was also named First-Team All-Conference while Taylor Carver was named Honorable Mention All-Conference for the second year in a row. Kendall Knapke garnered All-Freshman Team honors for the Orange and Black.
 
Thrice as Nice: Haley Cook was also named the WHAC Player of the Week for the third time this season on Feb. 22 after averaging 23 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists while shooting 40.6% from the floor and 45% from behind the arc in two wins in the final week of the regular season. She also won the weekly conference award on Nov. 23 and Dec. 7.
 
Picking up the Votes: The Warriors picked up 10 votes in this week's NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll, placing them 32^nd in the country. It is Tech's the second week in the national rankings and their first appearance in receiving votes section of the rankings since March 5, 2014, when they picked up three votes in final regular season poll.
 
500 Club: Rayana Villalpando made history back on Feb. 6 against Aquinas 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 in recent memory to achieve the feat 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 4.4 apg and ranks first in the WHAC both total assists (132) and assists per game. The Bellflower, California native is also a key part of the Warriors rebounding effort, averaging 5.3 boards per contest and ranks 13^th in the nation in total assists and 17^th 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 7.4 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. The Fort Wayne native is also a solid two-way player on the offensive end, shooting 42.7% from the field and stretching the floor with a 36.4% 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 16.5 ppg, while Seiss is just as deadly by dropping 15.3 points per contest. The pair have stepped their games up in conference play as well, with Cook averaging a WHAC-best 18.5 ppg in conference play and Seiss adding 16.4 points, the fourth-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 47.5% this season while averaging 11.8 points per game. She is tied for second on the team in rebounding with 5.5 boards a night and has started 29 of the teams 30 games this year.
 
Sharp Shooting: Tech's sharp-shooters are converting 42.0% of their shots from the field, 37.3% of their shots from downtown this season and shooting free throws at a 74.7% clip, ranking among the top-35 in the nation in all three categories. Their three-point field goal percentage ranks fifth in the country while they're 14^th in free throw percentage and 34^th in field goal percentage.
 
Sharp Shooting II: The Cook-Seiss duo is leading the charge when it comes to raining threes down on their opponents. The pair have combined for 170 triples on the year while both are averaging over two and a half per game. Cook leads the WHAC percentage-wise at 42.2% while Seiss is right behind at 40.8%. Seiss has made the ninth-most three pointers in the country with 89.
 
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.
 
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…Cook attempted a career-high 11 free throws against Cornerstone last Wednesday, making nine of them…Kendall Knapke grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds against Madonna on Saturday…Taylor Seiss attempted a season-high 21 shots and 14 three-point shots against the Crusaders.
 
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.