University Center, Mich. – Four freshmen scored season-highs to lead the Wayne State women's basketball team to its first road win of the year Thursday night as the Warriors led from start to finish to defeat Saginaw Valley 73-62. The victory snaps a three-game losing steak for Wayne State (5-15, 3-12 GLIAC) and also gives WSU a season sweep of the Cardinals (4-16, 2-13 GLIAC).

Wayne State recorded season-bests in points and steals (17) while matching its previous season-highs in field goals made (29), assists (16) and opponent turnovers (30).

Freshman forward Deanna Crumpton continued her fine play as of late, scoring a game-high 22 points on 11-of-16 shooting while grabbing five rebounds. Crumpton has now scored at least 10 points in three consecutive games.

After appearing in just six of the past 11 games for a total of 10 minutes, freshman guard Paige Sickmiller came on to tally 11 points, three rebounds, four steals and one block in 18 minutes on the court.

Freshman guard Tyler Hardy showed why she was one of the most heralded recruits of a talented freshman class by scoring 14 points and making two steals. Fellow freshman Phaebre Colbert also chipped in a career-high eight points.

WSU controlled virtually every facet of the game including rebounds (35-34), steals (17-8), assists (16-8), turnovers (20-30), points off of turnovers (30-18), second-chance points (10-2), points in the paint (30-26) and bench scoring (36-22).

Senior guard Brooke Bowers and sophomore guard Kiara Smith shared point guard duties on Thursday night and combined to hand out 11 assists with just one turnover. Smith also had three steals.

The Warriors jumped out to a 14-8 lead six minutes into the game after shooting 6-for-11 from the field as Crumpton did the work inside with six points while junior guard Chelsea Kouri and freshman guard Amelia Davis both hit three-pointers from the outside to help WSU's hot start. Bowers and Smith combined to assist on five of Wayne State's opening six buckets.

SVSU could only get to within four points (14-10) before Wayne State's offense proceeded to take over the half and keep in front of the Cardinals by 7-14 points for the remainder of the half largely due to the success that was had by the reserve duo of Sickmiller and Hardy. Sickmiller scored 11 points after a perfect 4-for-4 outing in the first half while Hardy also came up with a dynamic performance, totaling nine points. The pair combined to score 20 of Wayne State's final 28 points in the period.

WSU did not allow Saginaw Valley to score more than five unanswered points all half as the Warrior offense clicked with eight of 10 dressed players scoring baskets. The Wayne State defense also rose to the occasion by holding the Cardinals scoreless for nearly five minutes late in the half (5:24 to 0:32). During the SVSU scoring drought, WSU was able to build its lead up to 16 points. The half concluded with Hardy scoring five of the periods final seven points to give WSU a commanding 42-28 lead at the break.

As a team, WSU had one of its most complete halves of the season. Not only did the Warriors shoot 16-for-32 from the field (50 percent) and 5-for-8 (62.5 percent) from three-point range with nine assists, but the Warrior defense also had eight steals while causing 17 Cardinal turnovers.

Wayne State would not let up coming out of the locker room as the Warriors quickly picked up where they left off and extended its lead to 18 points (53-35) through the 12:39 mark in the second half. Over the next 4:42 Crumpton was a one woman scoring machine, knocking down 12 consecutive points for WSU and outscoring the Cardinals 12-7 over the same period of time.

Colbert capped off Wayne State's night with six consecutive points to push Wayne State's lead to 21 (73-52) with 1:34 to play. SVSU scored the game's final 10 points, but it was too little too late.

The Cardinals were led by Grace Herzog who had eight points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

Wayne State will look to continue its winning ways and revenge a loss from earlier this season on Saturday as WSU concludes its road trip at Lake Superior. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.