KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's basketball continues its three-game season-opening home stretch on Sunday, Nov. 11, hosting New Mexico State at 1 p.m. inside University Arena. 

Sunday, Nov. 11 • 1:00 p.m. • Kalamazoo, Mich. • University Arena (5,421)
New Mexico State Aggies (1-0, 0-0 WAC) vs. Western Michigan Broncos (1-0, 0-0 MAC)

Series Record: WMU leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Nov. 12, 2017 (WMU 64-55 in Las Cruces, N.M.)

WMU GAME NOTES | NM STATE GAME NOTES

BROADCAST INFORMATION:
Radio • WQLR 1600 AM The Fan Flagship (Kalamazoo/Portage) - Kory Lee (PBP)
Watch Live: ESPN+ (Conor Clingen - PBP, Theresa Beeckman - Color, Sam Mattlin - Sideline)

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BRONCOS EARN SEASON-OPENING WIN OVER PURDUE FORT WAYNE
Western Michigan officially opened its 2018-19 season on Thursday, Nov. 8 at University Arena, defeating Purdue Fort Wayne 69-61. It marked the sixth season-opening win under head coach Shane Clipfell, who opened his seventh season at the helm of the program. Four of the five Bronco starters scored in double digits. Leighah-Amori Wool led WMU with a career-high 17-point performance and Jasmyn Walker notched a double-double with 14 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Additionally, Kamrin Reed scored a career-high 13 points, followed by 12 points from Meredith Miller, who tallied a career-high four field goals from beyond the arc. Nina Farkic also brought in a career-high nine rebounds.

2017-18 RECAP
Last season the Broncos finished 18-15 overall and 9-9 in the Mid-American Conference, finishing third in the MAC West standings, the best finish since the 2014-15 season. WMU received the No. 6 seed in the MAC Tournament and upset No. 3 seeded Ball State prior to falling to No. 2 Buffalo in the semifinals. As a team, WMU scored the third most points in school history (2,308). Breanna Mobley became just the second player in Bronco history to collect 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds and was named to the All-MAC Honorable Mention team. 

RETURNERS
The Broncos return 11 letterwinners from last year's roster, while Jordan Walker and Breanna Mobley will both redshirt this season for medical reasons. Senior guard Deja Wimby returns as the floor general for the Broncos. A member of the 2017-18 Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List, Wimby led the team last season with 69 assists. Also returning is redshirt senior Jasmyn Walker, who each started the first 20 games last year before suffering a season-ending injury. 

NEWCOMERS
A total of three freshmen will hit the court for the Broncos this season including Jacinta Gibson (Jeffersonville, Ind. / Jeffersonville), Maxine Moore (Southfield, Mich. / Detroit Country Day), and Maddie Watters (Williamston, Mich. / Williamston). Gibson was a three-sport athlete at Jeffersonville and led the Red Devils to their first conference championship since 2011 her junior year while being named First Team All-Conference and a finalist for the News and Tribune Player of the Year. Moore was an All-State player while winning three state championships at Detroit Country Day High School. Watters was an 1,000-point scorer at Williamston and was named All-State and the Lansing State Journal Player of the Year.

2018-19 SCHEDULE
The Broncos officially open up the 2018-19 schedule with three consecutive home games, beginning Thursday, Nov. 8 versus Purdue Fort Wayne. WMU has 11 non-conference games on the schedule, headlined by matchups against Michigan and Ole Miss. Western Michigan will participate in the Stetson University Tournament in DeLand, Fla., Dec. 20-21, set to face North Dakota and Mississippi Valley State. The MAC schedule begins at Bowling Green on Saturday, Jan. 5.

THE MATCHUP
Sunday's game will mark the second all-time matchup between Western Michigan and New Mexico State. Last season, the Broncos traveled to Las Cruces, N.M., and defeated the Aggies 64-55 for their first win of the 2017-18 season. Junior Breanna Mobley and redshirt senior Marley Hill both recorded double-doubles to lead the Brown & Gold. The box score read fairly even as WMU shot 24-for-68 from the field, good for 35.3 percent. The Broncos forced the Aggies to 10 turnovers and grabbed 50 total rebounds. As a team, the Broncos added 12 assists led by Jasmyn Walker's game-high, four.

NEW MEXICO STATE SCOUTING REPORT
The Aggies were selected to win its fifth consecutive Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championship in the preseason coaches' poll. Senior guard Brooke Salas was named the WAC preseason Player of the Year and First Team All-WAC honors, along with junior guard Gia Pack also receiving First Team recognition. Aggie head coach Brooke Atkinson, in her second season at the helm of the program, was named the WAC Coach of the Year last season, leading New Mexico State to its fourth-straight conference championship with an overall record of 18-13 and a conference mark of 11-3. The Aggies were knocked out of the WNIT in the first round by the University of Wyoming.
 
NM State opened its 2018-19 slate with a convincing 70-38 victory over The University of Texas of the Permian Basin on Tuesday, Nov. 6. The Aggies shot 26-59 (44.1%) from the field while holding their visitors to just 26.9% shooting. New Mexico State forced 27 turnovers and out-rebounded UT Permian Basin 47-25.