KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's basketball team is set to compete in the 31st annual Hatter Classic at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla. Dec. 20-21, with games against the University of North Dakota on Thursday, Dec. 20 and versus Florida A&M on Friday, Dec. 21. Both games are set to tip-off at 3 p.m. 

Thursday, Dec. 20 • 3:00 p.m. • DeLand, Fla. • Edmunds Center (5.000)
Western Michigan Broncos (4-4, 0-0 MAC) vs. North Dakota Fighting Hawks (3-7, 0-0 Summit League)

Friday, Dec. 21 • 3:00 p.m. • DeLand, Fla. • Edmunds Center (5.000)
Western Michigan Broncos (4-4, 0-0 MAC) vs. Florida A&M Rattlers (2-6, 0-0 MEAC)

GAME NOTES: WMU | UND | FAMU

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Headed over to nearby Bethune-Cookman University for our last practice before the Hatter Classic. Back to business tomorrow versus North Dakota! #WeWillReign pic.twitter.com/Ygu3WktWll

— WMU Women's BBall (@WMU_WBB) December 19, 2018

HATTER CLASSIC
The Broncos will be partaking in the 31st annual Hatter Classic on the campus of Stetson University in DeLand, Fla., Dec. 20-21, facing the University of North Dakota on Thursday at 3 p.m. and Florida A&M on Friday at 3 p.m.. North Dakota State, San Francisco, and host school Stetson round out the six-team tournament.

LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan earned its second road victory of the season on Sunday, Dec. 16, opening its Florida trip with a 69-59 victory at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Fla. WMU tied a season-high with 69 points while forcing a season-high 24 turnovers and 15 steals against the Owls. Deja Wimby led the Brown & Gold with her first double-double of the season (seventh career), tallying 18 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. She also notched seven assists and five steals. Meredith Miller scored a season-high 16 points (one point shy of her career-high), paced by her four three-point field goals. Additionally, Leighah-Amori Wool and Maxine Moore each added 11 points. Western Michigan shot 34.8 percent (23-for-69) from the field and 23.1 percent (6-for-26) from beyond the arc. WMU converted 24 points off Owl turnovers and scored 32 points in the paint.

SERIES HISTORY
Thursday's and Friday's contests will mark the first meetings versus North Dakota and Florida A&M.

SCOUTING THE BRONCOS
The Broncos head into the Hatter Classic with an overall record of 4-4 and are coming off a 69-59 win at FAU. Sophomore forward Leighah-Amori Wool leads Western Michigan with 93 points (11.6 per game), while senior point guard Deja Wimby paces WMU with an average of 12.5 point per game and a team-high 28 assists and 23 steals.

SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA
The Fighting Hawks most recently defeated Mayville State 84-50 on Dec. 12 to improve to 3-7 overall on the season. UND shoots 37.5 percent from the field while averaging 58.1 points per game. Senior forward Lexi Klabo leads North Dakota with 19.3 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game.

SCOUTING FLORIDA A&M
The Rattlers most recently defeated Mid-American Conference member Miami of Ohio 57-56 on Dec. 16 to improve to 2-6 overall on the season. FAMU averages 48.0 points per game and shoots 33.7 percent from the field. Candice Williams and My Moye pace the offense with 11.2 and 10.4 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 on 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 114 career wins, also earning 13 victories at Eastern Michigan when he was the interim head coach during the 2006-07 season.

CAREER-HIGHS SHATTERED
Eight games into the 2018-19 season, 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. Recently at FAU, Deja Wimby tallied a career-high 13 rebounds, Maxine Moore scored a season/career-high with 11 points, Kamrin Reed notched a career-high five assists, while multiple others tied career-best marks.

TAKE IT AWAY
Western Michigan has forced its opponents to an average of 18.4 turnovers per game, forcing doubledigit turnover numbers in all eight games and headlined by a season-high 27 forced turnovers and 15 steals at FAU. The Broncos have totaled 66 steals, led by Deja Wimby's total of 23, averaging 3.8 per game. 

WIMBY CLIMBS RECORD BOOK
Senior guard Deja Wimby continues to move up in the all-time Bronco individual career records. She recently totaled seven assists with five steals at FAU and is now two assists away from 400 and 12 steals away from 200 in her career. Currently with 398 assists, she ranks eighth all-time at WMU. She ranks 10th all-time with 188 career steals.