Coming off a 1-1 record to open CCAA play on the road, the Warriors will take on Grand Canyon for a non-conference contest Saturday at 1 p.m. Cal State Stanislaus is now 5-1 heading into the Saturday afternoon affair.

RAINING THREES
The Warriors connected on nine three-pointers in Saturday night's win over Cal State Monterey Bay, including six in the second half.  The Warriors launched 20 three-pointers in all, connecting on 45 percent of them.  Antwinette Turner, Katie Busi, Christin Gowan and Heather Highshoe each made two from long range and Andreanna Marshall added one.  The nine three-pointers made in the game was just two shy of tying the team record (11, vs. Grand Canyon on Jan. 24, 2004) … at San Francisco State last Friday, the Warriors sank seven three pointers.  That night Gwen Page led the way making three-of-four from behind the arc.  In total the Warriors had 16 three-point shots over the weekend, and now have made 33 on the season while shooting 35 percent from long distance.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE
The reigning CCAA Player of the Week, Katie Busi, had another solid weekend for the Warriors adding to her impressive early season stat line.  On the weekend she scored 21 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.  Through the first six games she is averaging a double-double a game.  Her 14 points per game ranks her eighth in the CCAA, while her 10.8 rebounds per game leads the CCAA.  She also has 14 blocks on the season, which leads all CCAA players.

OFFENSIVE PAGE
Despite playing hurt, Gwendolyn Page continues to led the team in scoring as she turned in two more solid offensive games last weekend. Page led the team both night and scored 19 points at San Francisco State and 14 more against Cal State Monterey Bay … In Friday's game, Page went out in the first half when she landed awkwardly after a pair of free throws, but returned in the second half to score 14 of her 19 points … The two-time All-CCAA selection is now averaging 17 points per game with 102 points in six games.

SPREADING OUT THE OFFENSE
In Saturday's 85-79 victory, six Warriors scored in double figures.  Lysandra Williams and Gwen Page led the way with 14 points each, Christin Gowan (pictured right) and Katie Busi each added 12 and Antwinette Turner and Jeanette Rowe both chipped in with 10 points … On the season, there are three Warriors averaging double digit scoring per game.  Page is fourth in the CCAA averaging 17 points per contest, Busi averages 14 points and Williams is averaging 10.8 points a game.  All this scoring makes the Warriors the second highest scoring team in the CCAA, averaging 73.5 points per contest.

PROTECTING THE BALL, LEADS TO VICTORIES
The Warriors are averaging 22.2 turnovers per game while their opponents are averaging 23.3.  However in their only loss of the season against San Francisco State, the Warriors turned the ball over 33 times to the Gators 18.  The 33 turnovers led to 27 SFSU points in a game the Warriors lost by just four … In the Warriors five wins they are averaging just 20 turnovers per contest and are forcing 24.4 turnovers for their opponents. Case-in-point was Saturday's win at Monterey Bay where the Warriors committed just 14 miscues.

FINDING THE HOLE
Through the first six games, the Warriors find themselves scoring at a rapid rate and much of it is due to good shooting percentages.  The Warriors, averaging 73.5 points per game, are third in the CCAA in field goal percentage (.411) and three-point field goal percentage (.351).  In their two CCAA games they are shooting 49 percent from the floor and 47 percent from behind the arc. The team's leading scorer, Gwen Page, has made 50.7 percent of her attempts.

CONFERENCE LEADERS
Katie Busi leads the CCAA in a number of categories early this season. She's No. 1 in rebounding per game (10.8), offensive rebounds per game (4.3), defensive rebounds per game (6.5) and blocked shots per game (2.3) … Christin Gowan (pictured right) leads the conference with a 93.8 free-throw percentage (15-for-16; she's made 10 straight) … Gwen Page is 6-for-9 from three-point land for a CCAA-best .667 percent)

IN TURNER-DEAN'S OWN WORDS
Head Coach Sharon Turner-Dean on the 33 turnovers against SFSU: “We turned the ball over so much because we were in too much of a hurry trying to “hit the home run” against their presses. We would get through their press easily, only to make a bad pass in trying to score quickly and not thinking about a defender that could get into the passing lane before the pass reached the intended receiver. The 33 turnovers resulted in 33 less offensive opportunities. If we cut those down to 16 or 17, and shoot the same percentage on those offensive opportunities that we did for the game, we could have won by double figures.”

On her teams ability to find so many open 3's against CSUMB and their zone defense: “We had worked on being patient and making the opponent play defense for 20+ seconds instead of taking such quick shots, but it almost made our guards too hesitant to look to score. The zone is of course designed to pack it in and take away where the bulk of our scoring is coming from at this point. In the second half I told our shooters to look to take the open shot as long as it wasn't on the first or second pass, and to shoot it with confidence. That seemed to get everyone going.” 

On the Warriors first CCAA weekend: “Overall, I was pleased with the weekend. Anytime you can travel and play back-to-back in a conference as tough as the CCAA, and get a win after such a close one on previous night, is a good thing.”

HEAD COACH 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 57-110. 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.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS
GRAND CANYON ANTELOPES
Record: 3-3
Head Coach: Trent May (2nd season)

Notes:  2007 and 2008 Pac-West champions ... Beat CCAA opponents Cal State LA (86-82) and Cal State San Bernardino (60-48) … Led by Pac-West Player of the Year Rosalyn Nelson averaging 15.3 points and 5.5 assists per game … Stacey Haddow is averaging 13.2 points per game and has made 14 three pointers … As a team they are averaging 12 steals per contest … GCU used to be in the CCAA.

Series Record: Cal State Stanislaus leads the series 9-3 since the start of 1998-99 season. GCU won the last two meetings in 2003-04. Last Meeting:  Feb. 13, 2004 at Phoenix, GCU 70, CSUS 60