Fresh off two perfect home tournament weekends, the Warriors will open California Collegiate Athletic Association action this weekend on the road. They will visit San Francisco State on Friday and Cal State Monterey Bay Saturday night.

MEDIA COVERAGE
Live stats of the games are available by following the links on WarriorAthletics.com. Live streaming audio broadcast of Friday's contest at San Francisco State is available on WarriorAthletics.com and Network1Sports.com.

COMEBACK KIDS AT IT AGAIN
After coming back from an 18 point deficit to defeat Northwest Nazarene (11/17) in their second game of the season, the Warriors again came from behind, twice, to pick up two more victories last weekend.  On Friday the Warriors found themselves down 21 points with just under nine minutes left in regulation. They used a 33-12 run and forced over time with a Katie Busi three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining. Lysandra Williams scored 16 points in the second period and overtime, and Busi added 13 rebounds during that time … On Saturday the Warriors found themselves down 27-5 early in the game and managed to rally for another victory. Stanislaus outscored the Notre Dame de Namur 48-28 in the second half en route to a 74-66 win.  Of the four Warrior wins this season, three of them have included significant comebacks.

BUSI EARNS CCAA PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Forward Katie Busi has been named Wilson California Collegiate Athletic Association Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of November 24-30.  Busi averaged 13 points, 17.5 rebounds, 3.5 blocks, 2.5 steals and two assists a contest while producing a pair of double-doubles last week and led her team to two victories in the Stanislaus Thanksgiving Classic … In a 80-76 overtime victory over the Academy of Art on Friday, Busi grabbed a career-best 21 rebounds (12 offensive), contributed 15 points, five blocks, two assists and two steals. Her three-pointer with 13 seconds left tied the game at 71-71 and forced overtime … During a 74-66 come-from-behind victory over Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday, Busi scored 11 points, collected 14 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and three steals to pace the Warriors.  Busi ranks seventh in the CCAA in scoring (15.8) and first in rebounding (12.3).

TURNOVERS DOWN, OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS UP
Heading into CCAA play this weekend, the Warriors find themselves above all conference teams in turnover margin and offensive rebounds.  The +6.5 turnover margin indicates an emphasis on taking care of the ball on the offensive end and forcing mishaps on the defensive end.  The Warriors are averaging 21.5 turnovers per contest, but are forcing a league leading 28 turnovers per game for their opponents.  On the boards, Stanislaus is averaging 18 offensive rebounds per game with Katie Busi leading the way having collected 23 total offensive rebounds this season.

REJECTION
Among other categories the Warriors also lead the CCAA in blocked shots, averaging 5.5 per game.  Of their 22 total blocks, Katie Busi leads the way with 11.  Lysandra Williams has added six, Gwen Page three and Samantha Bertomen and Rebecca Arent have each added one.  The Warriors led the CCAA in blocked shots last season averaging 4.15 per contest.

OFF TO A HOT START
The Warriors women's basketball team is off to a 4-0 start for the first time since starting 6-0 in 2000-01. More significantly, three of the four wins are against West Region Division II opponents (Central Washington, Northwest Nazarene and Notre Dame de Namur) … for your information, the 2000-01 team started the season with five non-Division II wins.

LEARNING TO WIN ON THE ROAD
In order to keep the momentum of early season success alive, the Warriors will need to win on the road.  After going 4-0 in their first four home games, the Warriors will be on the road for seven of their next eight games.  They will open the CCAA season at San Francisco State (Fri.) and at Cal State Monterey Bay (Sat.) before returning home to host Grand Canyon on Dec. 13.  Then they will not return home until Jan. 9 when they host Sonoma State.  The road games include trips in Northern California, Southern California, Seattle, and Alaska.  The Warriors were just 2-10 on the road last season.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Antwinette Turner had a career-high with seven rebounds in Friday's game against Academy of Art … Andreanna Marshall also had six rebounds in that game, a game where the Warriors out-rebounded the Urban Knights, 64-43 … the last time a Warrior had 20-plus rebounds was on March 5, 2005 when Shavaki Jackson pulled down 20 (and scored 30 points) in a 89-76 loss at Cal State Bakersfield … the Warriors now have four home wins to match last year's total (4-9).

ADDING STARS
Head coach Sharon Turner-Dean announced the signings of two prep stars this week. Bianca Padilla and Erin Santiago will be joining the Warriors in the fall. Padilla is from The Bishop's School in La Jolla and Santiago is a local star from Turlock Christian High School.

IN TURNER-DEAN'S OWN WORDS
Head Coach Sharon Turner-Dean on falling behind early in games: “We are starting very slowly, and digging a deep whole. I am not sure if it is nerves, or lack of focus, or what it is” 

On her team's ability to come from behind to win games: “The fact that we have now come-from-behind in three games shows that we are developing a sense of pride and determination. In the past we would have rolled over and gotten blown out. I am proud of the team for not giving up.” 

On getting off to a faster start in games: “We need to focus on not starting so slowly, and moving the ball faster against a zone.  If we start slowly from here on out, or have a big lapse in our intensity, we will have a hard time winning. Our conference is just too good to start like we have been.”

HEAD COACH SHARON TURNER-DEAN
Sharon Turner-Dean is in her seventh season as the head coach of the Warriors. She is just the fifth head coach in the history of CSUS women's basketball. Since becoming the head coach in 2002, Turner-Dean has posted an overall record of 56-109. In her first season, in 2002-03, the Warriors went 18-10 and tied for second in the CCAA with a 15-7 record. The Warriors advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1991 before losing to Cal State Bakersfield in the first round …her husband Gary is her assistant coach and her son Allen is the team manager.

WARRIOR SPORTS NETWORK
Selected home games will be avilable on the Internet on WarriorAthletics.com and Network1Sports.com. In addition, many games will be simulcast on Cal State Stanislaus' student radio station, KCSS 91.9 FM with student Mike Maddox calling the play-by-play. Check WarriorAthletics.com for more information and for a broadcast schedule.

WARRIORS ON THE WEB
Check out the Warriors men's basketball team on the web at WarriorAthletics.com — the official website of Warrior Athletics. Visitors can browse player profiles, read game results and statistics, as well as subscribe to the Warriors SMS text messaging updates. The website was newly redesigned this summer through a partnership with Internet Consulting Services.

CCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The CCAA men's and women's basketball championships tournament will return to San Bernardino in March of 2009 with the top eight teams to qualify for the conference's postseason tournament. The first round games will be played on Tuesday, March 3 on campus sites of the top four seeds. The semifinals and finals will be played on March 6-7 at Cal State San Bernardino's Coussoulis Arena. The winner of the tournament would receive the automatic bid for the NCAA tournament.