KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's basketball team is set to host Loyola University Chicago on Monday, Dec.3 at University Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. with the game broadcasted on ESPN+.

Monday, Dec. 3 • 7:00 p.m. • Kalamazoo, Mich. • University Arena (5,421)
Loyola University Chicago Ramblers (4-2, 0-0 Missouri Valley) vs. Western Michigan Broncos (2-3, 0-0 MAC)

Series Record: Western Michigan leads 6-2
Last Meeting: Nov. 15, 2017 (WMU 65-47 in Chicago, Ill.)

GAME NOTES: WESTERN MICHIGAN | LOYOLA

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

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @WMU_WBB | FACEBOOK: @WMUWBB

LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan snapped a three-game losing skid with a 64-53 victory over Eastern Kentucky University last Wednesday, Nov. 28 at University Arena while head coach Shane Clipfell earned his 100th career win at WMU. The Broncos were led by a collective scoring effort with four players scoring in double digits. Leighah-Amori Wool and Meredith Miller led the Brown & Gold with 12 points each. Jasmyn Walker tied for the team-lead with seven rebounds and Deja Wimby added 10 points with a team-high six assists.

SERIES HISTORY
Monday's contest will mark the ninth all-time meeting between Western Michigan and Loyola, with the Broncos holding a 6-2 series advantage. WMU has won the past three matchups, including a 65-47 victory in Chicago, Ill. last season. Jasmyn Walker recorded a career-high 20 points in the win, shooting 8-for-12 from the field

SCOUTING THE BRONCOS
The Broncos head into today's contest with an overall record of 2-3 and are coming off a 64-53 win over Eastern Kentucky. Western Michigan is led by sophomore forward Leighah-Amori Wool, who leads the team with an average of 13.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Deja Wimby and Kamrin Reed follow with 10.7 and 9.8 points per game, respectively. In just three games played, Wimby leads the team with 11 steals, while point guard Nina Farkic leads the squad with 13 assists.

SCOUTING THE RAMBLERS
Loyola earned a second consecutive victory on Thursday, Nov. 29, defeating Purdue Fort Wayne 81-67 on its home court. As a team, the Ramblers have averaged 70.2 points per game and own a 43.8 field goal percentage along with a 34.6 percentage from beyond the arc. Three Ramblers average double digit scoring numbers, with sophomore guard Ellie Rice leading the way with 14.0 points per game. Janae Gonzales and Abby O'Connor have averaged 12.5 and 12.3 points per game, respectively. 

CLIPFELL REACHES 100-WIN MARK
Head Coach Shane Clipfell, in his seventh season at Western Michigan, earned his 100th career victory at the helm of the Bronco women's basketball program last Wednesday, Nov. 28 during the victory over Eastern Kentucky. He has led WMU to at least 17 wins in the past four seasons and is just the second coach in Western Michigan women's basketball history to record four-straight winning seasons, matching Fran Ebert's streak from 1974-78. Clipfell has 113 career wins, also earning 13 victories at Eastern Michigan when he was the interim head coach during the 2006-07 season.

CAREER-HIGHS SHATTERED
Through the first five games of the 2018-19 season, nearly each Bronco that has seen playing time has established at least one career-high statistic. Four out of five Bronco starters have already set career-highs in minutes played, while Leighah-Amori Wool and Kamrin Reed have both had career-high scoring performances. In the season-opener versus Purdue Fort Wayne, Wool scored 17 points to set a career-high, followed by 13 points from Reed. Wool followed up her season-opening performance with a 19-point, 11-rebound game versus New Mexico State to record her first career double-double. Reed then led the Broncos versus Michigan with a career-high 18-point performance. All three WMU freshman have also played minutes, led by Maddie Watters, who scored 16 points with five three-point field goals in her second collegiate appearance versus New Mexico State. 

WIMBY CLIMBS RECORD BOOK
Senior guard Deja Wimby collected six assists and three steals versus Eastern Kentucky (Nov. 28) to continue to move up in the all-time Bronco individual career records. Wimby recently moved into ninth all-time with 382 career assists and broke into the top-10 all-time with 176 career steals.

BRONCOS SIGN THREE TO NATIONAL LETTERS OF INTENT
Western Michigan announced the signing of three future Broncos to National Letters of Intent (NLI) on Wednesday, Nov. 14. Ashley Konkle (Aurora, Ill. / Benet Academy), Sydney Shafer (Jackson, Mich. / Northfield), and Taylor Williams(New Baltimore, Mich. / Dakota) will be eligible to compete for the Brown & Gold starting in the 2019-20 season. Konkle, a 6-2 forward, was ranked 17th in the state of Illinois by Prep Hoops in 2018. Shafer, a 5-10 guard, led Northwest High School to its first ever regional championship last season while they fell short of a state championship as the runner-up while earning Interstate 8 League MVP, JTV Sports Player of the Year, and MLive Jackson Citizen Patriot Dream Team Player of the Year. Williams, another 6-2 forward, was ranked among the Top 15 players from Detroit and in the Top 30 in the state of Michigan by MLive.

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 JournalPlayer 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 Florida A&M. The MAC schedule begins at Bowling Green on Saturday, Jan. 5.