MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State University women's basketball team opens a new era this Friday and Saturday with a pair of games in St. Joseph, Mo., on the campus of Missouri Western State University.
 
Tom Webb takes over as the eighth head coach in SMSU history after being named to the position on May 10, 2016.
 
SMSU will play at Missouri Western State on Friday night with tip-off slated for 5:30 p.m., before facing Fort Hays State (Kan.) on Saturday starting at 4:30 p.m. Both games will be played at the MWSU Fieldhouse.
 
SMSU enters the season with 12 players on its roster including eight returning letterwinners from last season. The Mustangs return two players that started all 29 games and will return three starters overall from a team that finished 5-24 overall and 3-19 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.
 
The Mustangs' 2016-17 roster will feature four seniors, three juniors, two sophomores, and three freshman.
 
MWSU, picked to finish fifth in the 14-team Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), won the MIAA regular season title and advanced to the NCAA tournament last season finishing the year with a 27-4 overall record.
 
FHSU, picked to place fourth in the MIAA, also advanced to the NCAA tournament last season and finished 25-6 overall.
 
SMSU is 1-3 all-time versus MWSU, winning the first meeting in 1995-96, but has lost three straight, including 93-61 last season in Marshall. SMSU lost its only meeting to FHSU last season by a score of 71-34 in a game played in Marshall.