TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (November 14, 2018) - In terms of preseason competition, the No. 17 Salt Lake Community College women's basketball team will experience one of the biggest stages in the country this weekend.

The Bruins are participating in the Midland College National Invitation Tournament once again, more popularly referred to as the "JuCo WNIT" tourney. Salt Lake, who enters the tourney with a 3-1 record after a strong start to the season, is continuing to look for opportunities to both improve and add resume-building wins to their tally. Fortunately, thanks to the scheduling prowess of SLCC coach Betsy Specketer, Salt Lake has another opportunity to do both this weekend.

"The "JuCo WNIT" is one of the premier junior college tournaments in the country, with only the nation's top teams being invited," said Specketer. "It'll be three straight days of elite, national tournament level competition. We're excited and honored to be part of it."

SLCC is coming into the tourney with momentum after picking up wins over Eastern Arizona, Central Arizona and Mesa in the season's first week. Some of the notable storylines from Salt Lake were Miki'ala Maio's strong start to the season, along with Emma Villas-Gomis and her improvement over the offseason. Also, SLCC has greatly benefited from the addition of Leichan Williams.

Specketer said the team's improvement in Arizona was impressive.

"I think our young team made strides this past week," she said. "We challenged them with four tough games in five days and they responded. They definitely had their eyes opened to the grind of college basketball. This week presents another challenge for them."

Salt Lake will open the tourney with No. 10 Seward County Community College, in a game that will be played at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday. The winner of the game will advance to face the winner of the Odessa-Iowa Western game in the tournament semifinals on Friday. All teams are guaranteed three games.

The Bruins will play their first home game on Friday, Nov. 23, as they host their annual Thanksgiving tourney. Salt Lake will play Bellevue College the day after Thanksgiving, with a matchup against Casper College on Nov. 24.