KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan women's basketball team heads down to San Marcos, Texas to take on Texas State as part of the Mid-American Conference-Sunbelt Conference Challenge on Saturday at 3 p.m.

The game can be watched live on ESPN+ and heard live joined in progress on the Bronco Media Network.

ROUND 2
This Saturday is the second round of the MAC-SBC Challenge. The opening round kicked off the season and saw MAC teams winning in eight of the 12 games. Western Michigan picked up a 61-52 win over Arkansas State at home. Texas State also won its opening game, a 75-71 victory against Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti. In addition to WMU and TSU, Akron and Georgia Southern, Ball State and James Madison, and Buffalo and Costal Carolina are the only other matchups featuring teams that both won in the opening round. 

THE MATCHUP 
This is the first ever meeting between the Broncos and the Bobcats. TSU is averaging 62.5 points per game on the season and allowing 66.3. Senior forward Jaylin Foster leads the team in scoring at 10.7 points per game and is second on the team in rebounds at 6.7. Senior guard Destiny Terrell is second on the team in scoring with 9.5 points per game, while leading the team in rebounds with 7.1. Supplementing their scoring is the fact that Texas State averages 20.4 free throws per game, tops in the SBC and 27th in the nation. 

TSU got out to a strong start, going 6-4 in their first 10 games of the season, but have struggled since. The Bobcats are 4-8 in conference play and are just 1-4 in their last five. 

THE SCORING TOUCH
In Wednesday's 70-64 road win at Akron, Western Michigan shot 52.2 percent (24-of-46) from the field. It was just the fourth time that the Broncos had shot above 50 percent on the season and first time in conference play. WMU has won three of the four games in which it has shot over 50 percent. 

Date      Opponent                    Shooting %            Result
11/4        vs. Arkansas State     52.3% (23-of-44)    W, 61-52
12/17     vs. Prairie View           50.9% (29-of-57)    W, 87-58
12/21    @ Purdue Fort Wayne 56.8% (25-of-44)    L, 75-83
2/5        @ Akron                       52.2% (24-of-46)    W, 70-65

MILESTONE
WMU graduate student Hannah Spitzley became the 29th player in program history to reach 1,000 points after a 22-point performance in the win at Akron on Wednesday. The 1,000th point came early in the early in the fourth quarter when she hit a three-pointer to put the Broncos up 52-48. She surpassed Taylor Williams, the last WMU player to reach 1,000 in 2023, and now sits 28th all-time in career scoring. Spitley needs just 101 more points to enter the Top 20 and has at least eight more games to do so. 

Spitzley has also moved up to 11th in program history in career steals, currently with 181. She is averaging 2.67 per game, which puts her at the top of the MAC and 24th in the nation. 

BETTER BALL CARE
After the Broncos had a conference-play high of 25 turnovers in the loss to Buffalo back on Jan. 29, they have decreased that amount in each of the last two games. Against the undefeated Ball State Cardinals they cut it down to 20 and in Wednesday's win over the Zips, they further reduced that to 18. 

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE
Western Michigan is 0-5 in non-conference road games this season and has one last chance to pick up a win with the game at Texas State on Saturday. Overall, WMU is 4-7 on the road, with all four wins coming in MAC play. 

ON THE HORIZON
No mid-week games for the Broncos next week. WMU welcomes Northern Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 12 p.m. for its annual Play4Kay Pink Game.