Nov. 19, 2010

Romeoville, Ill. -- The Wayne State women's basketball team knew this weekend's road trip would be no easy task as its two opponents were picked to finish one-and-two in the Great Lakes Valley Conference North Division. Unfortunately, the Warriors first stop at Lewis University ended with a 77-64 defeat Friday night.

The outcome may have ended better for the Warriors had it not been for a poor shooting night, where the Flyers outshot WSU from the field 54.9% to 40.6%.

Junior Kiara Smith (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) tallied a career-high 16 points and three assists to pace Wayne State (0-3, 0-0 GLIAC South).

Even though, seven Warriors scored in the first half, WSU went into the locker room down 36-19, after being held without a field goal in the final 4:22 of the half.

Not helping the situation was Lewis' shooting percentage. The Flyers shot 57.7% on 15-of-26 shooting, ending the first 20 minutes on a 16-5 run. Labrenthia Murdock and Jenny Turpel scored 11 and 10, respectively in the opening stanza, including Lewis' first 14 points.

Coming out in the second half, knowing an uphill battle was in store, the Warriors cut the deficit to 13 on back-to-back buckets from Felicia Thomas (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Central) and Amelia Davis (Temperance, Mich. / Bedford), but Turpel responded with six straight points of her own.

She finished the game with 20 points, including a 6-for-6 night from the charity stripe.

From there, the teams traded buckets until the Flyers went on an 8-2 run capped by four straight points from Carol Kruckman, giving the home team a commanding 58-34 lead with 9:51 remaining.

WSU never recovered, but did not quit, ending the final four minutes on a 14-6 run.

Sophomore Chelsea Davis (Plymouth, Mich. / Salem) netted seven of her season-high 11 points during the span.

Sophomores Deanna Crumpton (Kentwood, Mich. / East Kentwood) and Tyler Hardy (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) each added 10 points. Crumpton's points were a season-high and she also recorded a career-high with five steals.

Kruckman had 14 points and six rebounds, while Murdock finished with 13 points for Lewis (2-1, 0-0 GLVC North).

The Warriors head to Kenosha, Wisconsin for a Sunday afternoon matchup with preseason GLVC North Division favorite Wisconsin-Parkside. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m. EST.

Warrior Notes

* Wayne State shot a season-best 75.0% (9-for-12) from the free-throw line.
* The Warriors outrebounded the Flyers, 33-32.
* WSU recorded a season-best 13 steals.
* Lewis was 18-for-21 (85.7%) from the foul line.