DETROIT -- Wayne State women's basketball will travel to Ashland, Ohio, this weekend to participate in the Thanksgiving Tournament.  The Warriors will face Slippery Rock on Saturday before playing Missouri S&T on Sunday.  Both WSU games start at 1 p.m.

THE SERIES
WSU trails 2-3 in the all-time series against Slippery Rock, which began in 1989.  The two teams last met in November of 2004 at SRU, where Wayne State suffered a 70-57 setback.

Missouri S&T leads 2-0 in the all-time series against the Warriors.  The first contest took place in 2006.  Both games were held in Rolla, Missouri.  This will be the first match-up in neutral territory.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Slippery Rock finished last season with an overall record of 12-16, losing its final four contests.  This year, SRU won, 71-60, over Johnson C. Smith University, but fell short, 80-79, to Elizabeth City State College in the PSAC-CIAA Challenge.  Last Sunday, the Rock lost 71-53 to Bowie State University.  Slippery Rock will face Walsh University on Wednesday before taking on the Warriors.  Junior guard Brooke Hinderliter leads SRU at 18.7 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per contest, and eight steals.

In 2017-18, Missouri S&T recorded an overall mark of 9-17.  The Miners have started this season off strong with a 99-42 win over Blackburn and a 78-58 victory against Southern Arkansas.  They will face Westminster (Utah) and Ashland before taking on the Warriors.  Junior Maddie Raley and freshman Alex Kerr are leading the squad in scoring at 17.0 points per game.  Junior Mykala Baylor has also been showing up for the Miners, holding the lead rebounds (9.0 RPG) and blocks (7).

LAST TIME OUT
The Warriors recorded their first win of the season last Saturday (Nov. 17) at Tiffin University.  Despite trailing the entire contest, Tiffin took its first lead, 71-69, with 2:23 remaining.  Nastassja Chambers tied it at 71-71 with a layup less than a minute later.  In the final three seconds, Chambers made another bucket, earning the Warriors their first victory of the season.

NEW FACES
The 2018-19 campaign will feature four new faces on this season's 16-player roster.  Freshmen Sam Cherney (6-3 forward), Grace George (6-0 forward), Alexis Miller (5-7 guard), and Kate Sherwood (5-8 guard) have joined the Warriors this year.  Additionally, redshirt senior Daejia Hill will enter the lineup once again after rejoining the squad last January.

MAKING STRIDES
Following the 2017-18 season record of 19-8, Wayne State was tied-for-eighth in the 2018 Most Improved Teams, along with Union (TN).  WSU enhanced its record by 11.5 games, after an 8-20 record during the 2016-17 season.

PRE-SEASON ACCOLADES
Junior guard Nastassja Chambers was named to the Preseason All-GLIAC South Division Team.  It is the first time she has received this honor.

Chambers entered the 2018-19 season ranked 35th in career points (737) in just 55 games, and 11th with a 13.4 scoring average (min. 30 GP).  She is also fourth in free throw percentage (.803 / min. 125 attempts), 10th in field goal percentage (.487 / min. 260 attempts), 12th in minutes played per game (30.0 / min. 30 GP), 25th in free throws made (163), 38th in field goals made (276), tied-for-40th in blocked shots (20), 41st in steals (95), 46th in games started (50), 49th in three-point field goals made (22), and 51st in minutes played (1,652).

MOVING UP IN THE POLLS
After being tabbed-for-fourth in the South Division of the 2017-18 GLIAC Preseason Coaches Poll (then finished fourth overall), WSU was selected to finish third in the South Division in this year's Coaches' Poll with 39 points.  The Warriors recorded a league mark of 14-6 last year.

REPRESENTING IN REBOUNDS
Senior guard Ja'Nae Williams is currently ranked first in the GLIAC and 19th in the NCAA with 11.7 rebounds per game.  Williams also holds the top spot in the GLIAC and is 13th in the nation for defensive rebounds per game (9.0). 

FROM WNBA TO COACHING
Plenette Pierson was named an assistant coach at WSU this past August, following a 15-year WNBA career.  Pierson won three WNBA Championships while playing for the Phoenix Mercury (2003-05), Detroit Shock/Tulsa Shock (2006-10), New York Liberty (2010-14), Tulsa Shock/Dallas Wings (2015-16) and the Minnesota Lynx (2017).

She was selected as the inaugural Sixth Woman of the Year in 2007 and a WNBA West All-Star in 2015.  Pierson ranks 29th all-time in career points (4,258), 24th in rebounds (1,834), 24th in blocks (242), and 15th in field goal percentage (.439).

Pierson also played in 49 career playoff games.  She ranks 27th all-time in playoff rebounds (208) and 19th in playoff blocks (31).

WARRIOR COACHES
Assistant coach Karen Lafata has been by head coach Carrie Lohr's side since about day one of Lohr's tenure.  In Lafata's second year (2012-13), she helped guide WSU to the second-most wins in a season (22) as well as the first two NCAA Tournament wins in program history.  The next year, Wayne State won the GLIAC regular-season title with a 17-5 record and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.  In 2014-15, Lafata assisted the Warriors in tying the school record for wins in a season (23), claiming the GLIAC South Division title with a school record of 18 league victories, and advancing to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.

Graduate assistant coach Juanita Cochran is returning for her second season at WSU.  Prior to the start of her coaching career, Cochran played for the University of New Orleans (2009-10), Stony Brook (2010-11), and Wayne State (2011-13).  She started 51 games for the Warriors and ranks 46th in scoring, despite playing only two seasons for the Green and Gold.   In 2013, Cochran helped WSU reach the NCAA Midwest Regional final (Sweet Sixteen), where she scored 15 points and grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds in the loss at Ashland.

TOUGH COMPETITION
As of Nov. 20, two GLIAC teams were ranked in the top 25 of the WBCA D2 Coaches Poll.  Ashland remained ranked No. 2 behind Central Missouri, after beginning the season with a 3-0 record.  Grand Valley State fell from its preseason ranking of 18th.  GVSU is now ranked 18th with a record of 3-1.  Northern Michigan also received votes after a 4-1 start to the season.

COMCAST/XFINITY
Beginning in 2019, Wayne State's home women's basketball games will be aired live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN 900.  Sean Baligian, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson will call the action.

SEASON PREVIEW
The 2018-19 Warriors look to continue their rise in the GLIAC standings after a 14-6 league record a year ago.  This season's experienced squad consists of nine players who are either in their third or fourth year.

Leading the returnees will be junior guard Nastassja Chambers, who started 26 games last season and contributed 379 points.  

Senior guard Ja'Nae Williams will also be a leader after starting 23 games last year.  She led the team in rebounds (187) and was second in both assists (69) and steals (43).

Veteran leadership will additionally come from seniors India Hawkins, Paige Villemure and Jessica Murphy.  Hawkins played in 23 games last season making two starts.  Villemure participated in 20 games, while Murphy started 14 times and made 23 triples.

Junior twins Alex and Lyndsey Matus also return, along with classmate Sadia Johnson, redshirt sophomore Chavon Tiggs, and sophomores Anna Ruhstorfer and Tori Perez.