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GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University women's hockey team (7-13-0) continues its six-game homestand with a non-conference series against Quinnipiac University (15-7-1) at the City Sports Center in Detroit. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday and 2:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Wayne State was swept by Niagara, 3-0 and 2-1, last weekend and is looking to end a six-game losing skid. The Bobcats have won six of their last seven, including 3-2 victories at St. Lawrence (Jan. 7) and Clarkson (Jan. 8), the latter of which was in overtime. Quinnipiac's scheduled game last Tuesday against New Hampshire was postponed due to inclement weather.


BEHIND THE BENCH
Jim Fetter is 116-115-22 in his eighth season at the helm of the WSU women's hockey program. He is a three-time College Hockey America (CHA) Coach of the Year and was named Women's Division I Coach of the Year by the American Hockey Coaches Association in 2008.

Rick Seeley is in his third year at Quinnipiac with a record of 37-43-14. His 11-year career record, which includes stops at Clarkson and Manhattanville, is 184-126-36.


THROUGH THE YEARS
Wayne State leads the all-time series against Quinnipiac, 10-2-1, dating back to 2004. The Warriors went 10-0-1 over the first 11 meetings before the Bobcats swept a series last January in Hamden, Conn. WSU is 6-0-0 against Quinnipiac in Detroit, although the Warriors have not hosted the Bobcats in three years.


IN THE POLLS
Wayne State was predicted to finish in fifth place by the CHA head coaches in the 2010-11 preseason poll. Quinnipiac was picked to finish fourth in the ECAC Hockey preseason coaches' poll, and is ranked 10th this week in both the USA Today/USA Hockey and the USCHO.com national polls.


SCOUTING QUINNIPIAC
The Bobcats, who have won 10 of their last 14, are nationally ranked for the second time in program history. They are 7-1-1 in non-conference games this season and facing a CHA opponent for the second time this year (QU swept Niagara on the road Oct. 1-2).

With a young roster which includes only two seniors and six juniors, the Bobcats are being led this year by forward Kelly Babstock, who leads all freshmen in Division I with 20 goals and 40 points, and ranks 10th overall in points per game (1.74). She has seven game-winning goals and has accumulated 23.5 percent of QU's points this season.

Forward and classmate Erica Uden Johansson has nine goals and 21 points, and with an average of 1.00 points per game ranks eighth among rookies nationally. Others contributing offensively include junior forward Kate Wheeler (8-12--20) and junior defenseman Bethany Dymarcyzk (3-11--14).

Sophomore Victoria Vigilanti has started 22 of Quinnipiac's 23 games between the pipes. She ranks 11th in the nation in goals-against average (1.81) and 16th in save percentage. Vigilanti has contributed significantly to an overall scoring defense average of 1.83, seventh-best in Division I.


LAST TIME OUT
In its first game of 2011, Wayne State dropped a 3-0 result to Niagara on Friday night at the City Sports Center. The Purple Eagles scored once in each period, handing the Warriors their fourth shutout loss of the season. Niagara had not shut out WSU since the semifinals of the 2005 CHA Tournament (3-0).

Wayne State finished with a 27-15 advantage in shots on goal, out-shooting an opponent for the first time in nine games, but Niagara goaltender Jenni Bauer steered aside all 27 shots in her second shutout of the year. Niagara's 15 shots marked the lowest total by a WSU opponent since Jan. 16, 2009, when Robert Morris managed only eight shots in a 7-3 Warrior victory.

Freshmen Jessica Hitchcock and Kristen Richards scored in the first and third period, respectively. Kaleigh Chippy lit the lamp in the second period.

Gina Buquet and Lauren Coxon led WSU with five shots each.

Wayne State saw its losing streak reach six games following Saturday afternoon's 2-1 setback. As all of the scoring was confined to the first period, Micheline Frappier scored the lone Warrior goal at 11:39, a tally sandwiched between a pair of Purple Eagle goals.

The Niagara forward line of Daniela Dal Colle, Richards and Caitlin Jenkins produced both Niagara goals. Dal Colle scored the first goal of the game at 7:46, while Jenkins' game-winner came at 15:27. Richards assisted on both.

Wayne State out-shot Niagara for the second day in a row but was swept at home for the second time this season. Bauer totaled 25 saves, while Delayne Brian and 20 in the game and 32 in the series.

Adrianna Pfeffer, playing in her 100th career game, and Veronique Laramee-Paquette picked up assists on Frappier's tally.


WARRIORS MOVING UP RANKS
Laramee-Paquette took sole possession of fifth place all-time at Wayne State in CHA points (23), passing Alyssa Baldin and Kelly Zamora (2001-05). She is also tied for seventh with Jill Szandzik in CHA assists (14).

Brian has the fifth-highest single-season saves total (641) in WSU history. However, she may potentially move as high as second place this weekend. She needs seven saves to pass Valery Turcotte (2007-08) for fourth, 13 saves to eclipse Anna VanderMarliere (2002-03) for third, and 37 saves to pass Turcotte (2006-07) for second. The school record for saves in a season is 935, set by VanderMarliere in 2000-01.

Brian has played 1189:11 minutes this season, eighth-most in program history for a single year. She passed her own 2009-10 total (1095:57) as well as that of Turcotte in 2004-05 (1179:03) last weekend.


WSU VS. ECAC
Wayne State is 39-52-13 all-time against ECAC Hockey opponents. Quinnipiac is the second team from that conference on WSU's 2010-11 schedule, as the Warriors swept a series at Colgate (4-0, 5-3) in October.

The Warriors are 15-9-3 versus ECAC Hockey schools over the last four seasons.


TOP 10 TROUBLE
This weekend Wayne State is looking to snap an 18-game winless streak against ranked opponents. The Warriors have lost eight straight against top-10 foes since a 2-2 tie Nov. 12, 2009 at #6 Wisconsin.

Wayne State's last victory over a ranked opponent was a 3-2 result on the back end of a sweep Nov. 15, 2008 versus #10 Northeastern.


CONFERENCE KUDOS
For the sixth time this season, Brian was selected as the CHA Goaltender of the Week (Jan. 3) following her performance Dec. 30-31 at Ohio State. She was also chosen as the Goaltender of the Month for the third time in as many months.

She has accumulated 30 or more saves in 15 games this season, and has a conference-best .922 save percentage. She ranks fourth nationally with 641 saves.


LOOKING AHEAD
Wayne State will host Syracuse next weekend to close out its six-game homestand. The Jan. 28 game against the Orange will be the sixth annual Doc Andrews Alumni Night at the City Sports Center. A WSU alumni game will follow the Jan. 29 contest.

After traveling to Mercyhurst (Feb. 4-5), the Warriors will play their final home series of the 2010-11 season Feb. 11-12 against Robert Morris.