TURLOCK, Calif. — Stan State women's basketball will play a home-and-away series this week against Central Valley rival UC Merced as CCAA action continues. The Warriors will travel to Merced to face the Bobcats on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 5:30 p.m., before returning home to Fitzpatrick Arena to host UC Merced on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 1 p.m.

Warriors in Review
Stan State enters the week at 1-12 overall and 0-10 in CCAA play, averaging 58.3 points per game and 37.1 rebounds per contest. MilaSarai Tau leads the Warriors in scoring at 12.7 points per game, followed by Alyssa Premo (11.8 ppg) and Eryn Gardner (10.2 ppg). Gardner also anchors the rebounding effort, pulling down a team-best 8.7 rebounds per game.

Premo leads Stan State in field goal percentage at 47.4 percent, while Tau is shooting 44.9 percent from the floor. The Warriors average 3.4 three-pointers per game, and Sara Davis leads the team at the free-throw line at 90.0 percent. Quinn Garrett has dished out 27 assists, while Gardner paces the defense with a team-high 22 steals and also leads the Warriors with nine blocked shots.

Home Stand Recap
Stan State closed its two-game homestand at Fitzpatrick Arena with matchups against San Francisco State and Cal State East Bay. Against SFSU, the Warriors were led by a balanced effort from Alyssa Premo (18 points), MilaSarai Tau (15 points), and Eryn Gardner (15 points, 13 rebounds), with Gardner recording her second double-double of the season. On Saturday, Premo posted a career-high 28 points to lead Stan State versus East Bay, while Tau added 12 points and Gardner finished with 9 points and 11 rebounds. Overall, the Warriors averaged 67.5 points per game across the two contests while totaling 30 assists and shooting 39.8 percent from the field.

Premo's Weekend
Alyssa Premo delivered a standout performance over the two-game homestand, averaging 23.0 points per game while shooting 47.1 percent from the field and a perfect 12-for-12 from the free-throw line. Premo scored 18 points against San Francisco State before posting a career-high 28 points versus Cal State East Bay, going 11-for-22 from the floor and 2-for-5 from three-point range in the contest. She also averaged 5.0 rebounds per game during the weekend. On the season, Premo is averaging 11.8 points per game, shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from three-point range, while converting 78.8 percent at the free-throw line, ranking among the CCAA's most efficient scorers.

CCAA Stats
Stan State continues to rank among the CCAA leaders on the glass, sitting sixth in the conference in defensive rebounding and eighth overall in rebounding. Individually, Eryn Gardner ranks seventh in the CCAA in rebounding and ninth in field goal percentage, while MilaSarai Tau sits sixth in the conference in field goal percentage. At the free-throw line, Alyssa Premo ranks fourth in the CCAA, highlighting the Warriors' efficiency in key statistical areas.

Gardner's Double-Doubles
Eryn Gardner has recorded two double-doubles this season for the Warriors. Her first came in a road contest at Jessup, where she finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, marking her first double-double in a Stan State uniform. Gardner followed that performance with her second double-double on Thursday against San Francisco State, posting 15 points and 13 rebounds, while also adding four assists and two blocks, continuing to anchor the Warriors on both ends of the floor.

Academic Excellence
Warriors women's basketball continued to excel in the classroom during the Fall semester, contributing to a department-wide effort that saw 146 Stan State student-athletes earn a semester GPA of 3.25 or higher, including 28 with a perfect 4.00 GPA. As a team, women's basketball posted a 3.081 cumulative GPA and a 3.048 term GPA, helping all 14 Stan State athletic programs record a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher. Several Warriors earned Honor Roll recognition, including Alyssa Premo, MilaSarai Tau, Quinn Garrett, Cameron Gibson, Karissa Hukill, Kylie Kulina, and Amya Vangkham-Griffin, highlighting the program's commitment to success both on the court and in the classroom.

Scouting UC Merced
UC Merced enters the week at 5-12 overall and 2-8 in CCAA play, averaging 65.8 points per game while allowing 74.3 points per contest. The Bobcats shoot 38.2 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three-point range, making 6.9 three-pointers per game, and average 37.2 rebounds and 14.5 assists per contest.

Nicole Lukito leads UC Merced at 15.1 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, while Sarina Nagra adds 14.4 points per contest and has knocked down 40 three-pointers on the season. Paloma Ramirez contributes 9.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, and Quinn Godfrey anchors the interior with 19 blocked shots. The Bobcats split last weekend, falling 90–89 to Cal State East Bay before earning a 63–58 win over San Francisco State.

Season Series vs. the Bobcats
The upcoming games mark the second all-time meetings between Stan State and UC Merced. The Warriors claimed the first meeting in the series with a 76–56 victory in Turlock on Nov. 22, 2018. In that contest, Ava Burch led Stan State with 12 points, while current assistant coach Riley Holladay added seven points and five rebounds.

Listen and Watch
Both games will be streamed live on FloCollege. All Stan State home games can also be heard on BlueChip Broadcasting, with Levi Flores on the call.

Up Next
The start of the second half of the CCAA season will see Stan State return to the road to continue conference play at Cal State San Marcos on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 5:30 p.m. in San Marcos, Calif., before visiting Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 1 p.m. in Seaside, Calif.

The Warriors will then return home to Fitzpatrick Arena to host Chico State on Thursday, Feb. 5 at 5:30 p.m. on Student Affairs Night, followed by a match-up with Cal Poly Humboldt on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 1 p.m. on City of Turlock Day.