WARREN, Mich. – The Macomb Women's Basketball team will wrap up the first half of MCCAA Eastern Conference play this week with a pair of pivotal games. The Monarchs open the week on the road at Wayne County Community College District on Wednesday (Jan. 28) at 5:30 p.m. before wrapping up the first half of league play at Wayne State's Matthaei Center on Saturday against Jackson College at 1 p.m.
 
Kirk Carolan's Monarchs are 14-6 overall and 3-2 in league action entering the week.
 
A LOOK AT WAYNE COUNTY: The Wildcats enter this week 7-8 overall and 0-4 in conference play, most recently losing 69-47 at St. Clair County Community College on Saturday. Wayne County is averaging 66.5 points per game and shooting 46.4 percent from the field.
 
Alanna Neves leads a balanced offense with 11.2 points per game while Morgan McPherson (10.5 PPG) and Makira Kelly (10.3 PPG) aren't far behind. Kamira Bragg leads the team in rebounding with 5.8 per contest. 
 
The Wildcats are led by head coach Yvonne Hammoud. 
 
A LOOK AT JACKSON: The Jets are the defending Eastern Conference champions and are in contention again with a 4-1 mark in league action (13-7 overall). Jackson most recently defeated Mott Community College, 70-47, on Saturday. 
 
The Jets are a top five team in the MCCAA offensively, averaging 79.0 points per contest. Reese Williams is the leading scorer for the Jets with 16.6 points per night. Maddux Locke is averaging 11.5 points and pulling down a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game. 
 
The Jets are led by head coach Heather Brown, the 2024-25 MCCAA Eastern Conference Coach of the Year. 
 
A LOOK AT MACOMB: The Monarchs bounced back from Wednesday's loss to SC4 with a 110-88 victory over Oakland Community College Saturday in Detroit. It was the second time this season the Monarchs hit the century mark and their highest offensive output of the year. 
 
In the victory over OCC, Hannah Tamou led the charge with a career-best 26 points while grabbing eight rebounds. MyKenzi Harris also had a career-best day, scoring 25 points and pulling down eight rebounds. Asiyah Jihad added another double-double with 16 points and 18 rebounds while A'Liyah Forris recorded 14 points, five assists and three rebounds. Janiya McWilliams narrowly missed a triple-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. 
 
The Monarchs had a dominant day on the glass, outrebounding the Owls, 60-38. They shot 38-of-80 from the field. 
 
Jihad continues to average a double-double for the Monarchs with 15.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. Forris is averaging 13.4 points per contest, while Harris tallies 12.5 points per night and McWilliams posts 10.7 points per game.
 
As a team, the Monarchs average 69.5 points and 41.0 rebounds per night. 
 
LAST SEASON: Macomb swept the Wildcats last year, winning 81-55 in Warren and 72-65 in Detroit. 
 
Against Jackson, Macomb lost 86-42 on the road before dropping an overtime heartbreaker by a 74-73 final in Warren. 
 
LIVE COVERAGE: Wednesday's live stream will be provided by the host Wildcats and can be found here. Tom Cavanaugh will return to the call Saturday and will be joined by Noah Drury on MacombMonarchs.com/Watch. Live stats will be available for both games here.

UP NEXT: The Monarchs open the second half of conference play on Feb. 4 against No. 2 Schoolcraft College. Tip-off from Wayne State University's Matthaei Center is set for 5:30 p.m. in Detroit.