Tiffin, Ohio - The Wayne State women's basketball team's four-game road trip started off on a down note Thursday night as Tiffin defeated WSU 76-61.

Wayne State (4-14, 2-11 GLIAC) shot a respectable 40 percent from the field and forced 22 turnovers, but it was the Dragons (6-12, 3-10 GLIAC) who held the edge in points off of turnovers 28-14. WSU did hold a 4-3 edge in blocks while the two clubs each had 12 assists. Tiffin out rebounded the Warriors 44-28.

Freshman forward Deanna Crumpton (Kentwood, Mich./East Kentwood) matched her career-high with 11 points while also grabbing seven rebounds. Senior guard Brooke Bowers (Delphos, Ohio/Jefferson), who was playing in her 100th career game, added nine points, five assists and four steals.

Freshman forward Chelsea Davis (Canton, Mich./Plymouth Salem) registered eight points, four rebounds and two blocks. Thursday marked the third multi-rejection game of Davis' season. Off the bench, sophomore guard Kiara Smith (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) had eight points and three steals.

The Warriors started strong, scoring the game's first five points thanks to a basket from freshman guard Amelia Davis (Temperance, Mich./Bedford) and a three-point play by Crumpton. WSU kept on attacking and added two more baskets to give itself a 9-3 lead and force Tiffin to call a timeout with 16:45 to play in the first half.

The Dragons came out of the timeout to outscore the Warriors 14-5 over the next seven minutes to get a lead of its own at 17-14.

The back-and-forth battle continued all half as Wayne State put an end to the Tiffin spurt by scoring eight of the next nine points to retake the lead before surrendering it back over to the Dragons again after a pair of TU free throws gave the home team a 24-22 lead late in the first period.

The final five minutes of the first half was highlighted by more evenly matched play as neither team could gain an edge on the other and at the break Tiffin found itself ahead by three points (33-30).

Eight players scored points in the first half for Wayne State with Chelsea Davis leading the way with six points. Bowers and Crumpton both scored five apiece while sophomore guard Felicia Thomas (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central) filled up the boxscore with two points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal. Smith and Bowers had three steals each, a game-high to that point.

WSU was able to force 17 Tiffin turnovers in the first half, but the Dragons were able to stay in the game and come out of the period on top thanks to shooting 14-of-17 from the foul line. Conversely, Wayne State took just one foul shot in the first half.

Both squads picked up where they left off to start the second half. Tiffin struck first, but Amelia Davis and Crumpton once again came out hot for WSU, combining to score the Warriors' first seven points of the period.

Fouls would prove to be a problem that wouldn't go away for WSU. First Chelsea Davis was forced to the bench with her third foul of the game then Tiffin hit four straight foul shots to extend its lead to 46-39 with 12:23 to play as four Warrior starters were saddled with three fouls.

Wayne State proceeded to show off its depth as freshman forward Tyler Hardy (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) came off the bench to score four points and head an 8-5 WSU charge to cut Tiffin's lead back down to four points (51-47) midway through the second period. But the Dragons showed their toughness at home with a 13-3 run to open up a 64-50 lead.

The Warriors made one final push thanks to two of its most experienced players. First Bowers downed a triple then Thomas scored four straight points with Bowers adding a free throw to cap off a 8-0 run and pull WSU back to within six points (64-58) with 2:59 left to play.

However, the Warriors could not keep its comeback bid going as the Dragons scored 12 of the game's final 15 points to earn the 76-61 win.

Three players scored in double figures for Tiffin with Jessica Harris leading the way with game-highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.

WSU will be back on the road against Ashland on Saturday. Tip-off at Kates Gymnasium is scheduled for 1 p.m.