ADRIAN, Mich. - This weekend, the Adrian women's basketball team travels east to Pennsylvania for the 2021 Mountain Valley Tip-off Classic, hosted by Penn State Altoona and Mount Aloysius.

The Bulldogs will first venture to Altoona to face the Nittany Lions on Friday evening before visiting Cresson, PA to challenge the Mounties on Saturday afternoon.

Penn State Altoona is coming off of a six-game exhibition schedule last spring, and returns only two players from its 2019-20 roster.

Those two returners are senior Alexis Cannistraci and junior Sarah Huston, who were each named to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference's (AMCC) "Players to Watch" list.

Cannistraci, a two-time first-team All-AMCC selection, was also tabbed as the conference's Preseason Co-Player of the Year. During the 2019-20 season, she finished first in the league in made free throws (110), second in points (440), points per game (16.9), blocks (49), and blocks per game (1.9). The Tyrone, Pennsylvania-native also ranked inside the top 10 in six additional statistical categories.

Huston closed the 2019-20 campaign with the AMCC's third-most steals (59) and third-best free throw percentage (0.841).

In addition to the Nittany Lions practically brand-new line-up, the team is led this season by first-year head coach, Halee Adams.

Adams and her young squad were picked to finish fourth in the conference's preseason poll, three spots ahead of Mount Aloysius.

Another young group, the Mounties feature eight newcomers and two preseason "Players to Watch."

One of those players, Carly Stigers, paced Mount Aloysius in scoring during the 2019-20 season, posting 9.4 points per contest. The sophomore shot a team third-best 81.1 percent from the charity stripe, and she also corralled 40 total rebounds in 16 appearances.

Zoe Harding, the other "Player to Watch" from the Mounties, averaged just over six points per game two seasons ago.

This weekend will mark the Adrian women's basketball program's first appearance in the Mountain Valley Tip-off Classic.

The Bulldogs (0-1) opened their 2021-22 season on Monday at Defiance, dropping a 64-59 decision to the Yellow Jackets.

Rylee Campbell and Kiaya Warner combined to shoot 38.1 percent from the field, contributing 23 points to Adrian's final score.

Freshman Chloe Gilbert led the black and gold with three steals against Defiance, also chipping in eight points in 18 minutes.

As a team, the Bulldogs finished just under 35 percent from the floor, not including a 67 percent effort from the foul line.

Friday's action in Pennsylvania tips-off at 8 p.m., then on Saturday, the 'Dogs and the Mounties square-off at 3 p.m.

Live video will be available for both contests, however, live stats is currently only available for Friday's game.