EXHIBITION GAME: The Warriors Women's Basketball team opened up their 2022-23 competition at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo two weeks ago in a closed scrimmage to prepare them for the upcoming season. They will start their regular season this Friday against Northwest Nazarene University on the road at 6pm PST and will follow up the next day at Central Washington University at 3:30pm PST. 
 
LAST SEASON: In 2021-22 season, head coach Wayman Strickland and his Warriors team went 12-10 overall, with a 7-9 CCAA record. Their middle-of-the-pack finish put them in 7^th place overall in the conference, after a few costly losses down the final stretch put them out of CCAA playoffs contention by two games.
 
Stan State had the 4^th rated defense in the conference last season, holding opponents to 61.5 points per game for the year. In addition, they held teams to 35.6% shooting, which was 2^nd in the CCAA. They were 3^rd in team rebounds (41.3) and 2^nd in defensive rebounds (27.8) and 2^nd in steals (11.0).
 
Da'Myiah Lewis, Liliana Marques, and Taylor Pilot each averaged double figures last season, putting them in the top-25 rankings of CCAA scorers last year. Pilot, Lewis, and Joia Armstrong were also top rebounders a season ago.
 
ALL-CCAA: Lewis and Pilot both received CCAA Honorable Mention recognition last year and will look to be integral parts of the team's leadership coming into the 2022-23 season. Stan State graduate-turned-assistant coach Kyanna Davis, who was a part of the All-CCAA Second Team, will now hope to make a difference on the sideline for the Warriors.

ALSO BACK: The Warriors enter the season with nine returners in Pilot (Jr, 5-4, G), Ashmeen Sran (Jr, 5-4, G), Maya Gorman (So, 5-8, G), Myani Thornton (Sr, 5-5, G), Amaya McLeod (So, 5-9, G), Marques (Sr, 5-9, G), Lavinia Moa (Sr, 5-11, F), Lewis (So, 5-8, G), and Armstrong (So, 5-11, F). They will be expected to mesh effectively with their incoming freshmen to make for a well-balanced machine on both ends of the floor.
 
SEVEN NEWCOMERS: Stan State will have seven newcomers on this year's team in Iman Addison (Fr, 6-0, F), Jadyn Patterson (Fr, 5-5, G), Makayla Jackson (Fr, 5-7, G), Alexis Woodson (Fr, 5-10, G), Aunika Hornung (Fr, 6-2, F/C), Lyric Richardson (Fr, 6-0, F), and Ashley Lewis (Fr, 6-5, C). The Warriors will look to add some much needed outside shooting and inside scoring with first-year players who will likely see action early on in the season.
 
PICKED TO FINISH EIGHTH: In the 2022-23 CCAA Preseason Women's Basketball Poll, Stan State was picked to finish eight. Cal State San Marcos is projected first, followed by Cal State LA, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal Poly Pomona, Chico State, Cal State East Bay, and Cal Poly Humboldt. Ninth through twelfth include San Francisco State, Sonoma State, Cal State San Bernardino, and Cal State Monterey Bay.
 
HOSTING CCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: This season, Stan State is hosting the CCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships March 2-4 at Fitzpatrick Arena. The top six teams will receive a berth to championships with the top two seeds receiving a first-round bye. The tournament champions will receive the league's automatic berth to the CCAA Championships. Quarterfinal games are set for noon and 2:30pm on March 2^nd. The semi-finals will be at noon and 2:30pm on March 3 with the championship game set for March 4^th at 5pm.
 
CCAA NETWORK:  To view the live stats from all four games of the classic, go to https://warriorathletics.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary and for the CCAA network go to www.ccaanetwork.com/Stan.  The CCAA network has a monthly subscription rate of $9.95, which can watch any CCAA sport that is hosted at any CCAA institution during that 30-day period.
 
NORTHWEST NAZARENE: The Nighthawks went 18-10 and 12-6 in the GNAC last season. A season ago, the team averaged 72.4 points per game on an efficient 41.2% shooting clip. They were led by their leading scorer, Sophomore Teagan Thurman led the team in scoring, averaging 12.4 points per game on 46.3% shooting, while Senior guard Jordan Pinson was recently named to the GNAC Preseason All-Conference team.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Since 2007, the Warriors' record against the Nighthawks is 2-7, with the Warriors taking the most recent victory with two 20+ point performances from Da'Myiah Lewis and Kyanna Davis.
 
CENTRAL WASHINGTON: The Wildcats are coming off a 24-8 season and a GNAC Conference Championship. They fell in the second round of West Regionals to #25 Western Washington. They averaged 73.6, shooting 43.2% from the field and 34.3% from three. The team lost their top two scorers from a season ago and will look to their returners and newcomers to fill some roles. Redshirt Junior Samantha Bowman was the team's next highest scorer averaging 16.2 ppg in 2021-22.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Warriors are 2-4 since 2008 against the Wildcats. They lost a nailbiter last season after a missed jumper game-winning jumper in the final seconds. 
 
UP NEXT FOR THE WARRIORS: The team will face Holy Names and Academy of Art in the Warrior Classic home opener tournament on Nov. 18^th-19^th.