* FRIDAY & SATURDAY LIVE STATS
* THERE WILL NOT BE STREAMING VIDEO FOR THE UWF GAMES THIS WEEKEND

PENSACOLA, Fla. - The 40th season of UWF Women's Basketball tips off on Friday afternoon when the Argonauts take part in the GSC/SIAC Challenge at The Complex in Valdosta, Ga. UWF will face Albany State at 1 p.m. ET/Noon CT on Friday and Fort Valley State at 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT on Saturday.

UWF is coming off a 24-6 record after the team made its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the past six seasons. The Argonauts return eight letterwinners and one starter from 2018-19. 

HEAD COACH STEPHANIE LAWRENCE YELTON 
Year eight of the Stephanie Lawrence Yelton era begins on Friday. The veteran coach has compiled a 132-76 (.635) record at UWF with four NCAA Regional Tournament appearances in the last six years and a trip to the 2017 Elite Eight. Her teams have averaged 21 victories over the last six seasons. She was also the head coach at Charleston Southern from 2001-06 where she went 57-84.

ABOUT ALBANY STATE
ASU was picked to finish fifth in SIAC East, after finishing 9-19 overall last season. Junior guar Alexandria James returns as the leading scorer, averaging 11.8 points and 1.4 assists per contest in 2018-19. Senior guard Ashley Johnson also return, after averaging 8.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. ASU is led in the frontcourt by junior forward Tyra Thompson, who averaged 7.0 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.

The Argonauts are 6-1 against the Golden Rams on the basketball court and have won the last five dating back to December of 2006. UWF has won each of the last three years by double digits since the GSC/SIAC Challenge began.
 
ABOUT FORT VALLEY STATE
ASU is under the direction of first-year head coach Andrea Williams. Last year the Wildcats went 6-20 overall and 

The Wildcats will have two-time All-SIAC guard Alicia Franklin and senior classmates Nola Carter and Jalin Moye to lead the way. Franklin averaged 14.5 points per game last season and made  in 65 3-point field goals. She has 896 points in 74 career games.
 
UWF is 3-0 all-time against Fort Valley with lopsided wins each of the past two seasons. The other win was a 65-64 win in the 2006 NCAA Regional in Arkadelphia, Ark.
 
UPCOMING GAME
UWF will be off until Friday morning when it welcomes Pensacola Christian to the UWF Field House for Field Trip Day! The game will tip-off at 10:30 a.m. and feature hundreds of area elementary school students in attendance.