Nov. 18, 2011

Women's Basketball Game Notes vs. LSSU


GAME STORYLINES
Fresh off its first opening night win since 2008 and head coach Carrie Lohr's first career win at Wayne State, the women's basketball team (1-0) welcomes Lake Superior State (2-1) to the Matthaei for a non-conference contest on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Last season, the Warriors defeated the visiting Lakers, 56-54, in the teams' only meeting. Junior forward Phaebre Colbert tied for game-high scoring honors with 16 points, while junior guard Paige Sickmiller added 14 points including the game-winning bucket from just outside the right elbow with three seconds left. Senior center Casey Schemberger led LSSU with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Wayne State was picked to finish fifth by the media in the GLIAC South Division and Colbert was named to the South Division Preseason All-GLIAC Second Team in voting by the conference coaches. Lake Superior State was slated to finish third in the GLIAC North Division, while junior forward Maria Blazejewski was selected to the North Division Preseason All-GLIAC First Team and Schemberger garnered All-GLIAC Second Team recognition.

A WSU win today would be its third straight over LSSU dating back to Feb. 6, 2010.


ON THE BENCH
Lohr earned her first win as the head mentor of the women's basketball program on Nov. 11 against Rochester College. She was named the 12th head coach on May 11 after serving as the head coach at St. Clair County Community College (SC4) in Port Huron for the last nine seasons (2002-11). She also spent two years (1997-99) as an assistant coach at Oakland University as it transitioned from Division II to Division I.

Lohr was selected as the 2009-10 BCAM (Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan) Junior College Coach of the Year after earning the MCCAA Eastern Conference Coach of the Year award. She also won the BCAM Junior College Coach of the Year award following the 2003-04 campaign. She had a record of 166-106 (.610) in her nine years with the Skippers along with an MCCAA mark of 93-50 (.650), as SC4 always finished in the top half of the conference standings.

First-year head coach Justin Rees takes over a LSSU team that lost 56 percent of its scoring from last season. The Lakers graduated the starting guard trio of Emily Joseph, who was the 2011 GLIAC Player of the Year, Ronlea Peterson and Nicole Marshall, who also accounted for 251 assists, 119 steals and 118 three-pointers.


SERIES HISTORY
Wayne State trails in the all-time series with Lake Superior State, 38-25. The Warriors have triumphed in the last two matchups with the Lakers after dropping 15 of 16 spanning from 1998 until 2010. WSU won 16 of the first 20 games played in the series, but recorded six wins in the next 25 meetings.


ROCHESTER COLLEGE RECAP
The Warriors jumped out to a 36-26 halftime lead and never looked back defeating visiting Rochester College, 76-51, on Nov. 11. It was WSU's first season opening win since 2008. The hosts controlled the points in the paint category outscoring its counterpart, 50-6.

Colbert played a huge role leading all scorers with 21 points (7-of-19 FG, 7-of-9 FT) and eight rebounds. Sickmiller nearly tallied a double-double with 17 points (7-of-11 FG, 2-of-3 3FG) and nine rebounds. She had the hot hand early, hitting the first three shots she took including back-to-back triples.

Wayne State led by seven (18-11) following a basket from junior center Juanita Cochran with 10:06 left before halftime. Rochester would cut the deficit to one (20-19) with 7:02 remaining, however, WSU used a 14-0 run over the next six minutes to take a 34-19 lead. The spurt saw five different Warriors score. The visitors responded by outscoring Wayne State 7-2 the rest of the half.

Out of the break, WSU still clung to its 10-point advantage, 51-41, with 13:02 to play. The defensive play of the Warriors became the difference the rest of the way as the hosts would hold Rochester without a field goal over the next seven minutes and then close the game on a 12-4 run.

Stefani Munro recorded nine points, seven assists, six rebounds and five steals, while Cochran had eight points and seven rebounds including six offensive boards. Wayne State shot 46.3 percent (31-of-67) from the field, garnered 36 points off turnovers and posted 20 fast break points. In addition, WSU held a 51-26 rebounding advantage and grabbed 21 offense rebounds to Rochester's 21 defensive rebounds.


SCOUTING LAKE SUPERIOR STATE
Opening the season in Midland, Mich. at the Timberwolf Classic hosted by Northwood University, LSSU followed a 59-52 win over Mercyhurst College with a 73-64 setback to Illinois-Springfield. From there, the Lakers recorded a 68-53 home victory over Alma College on Tuesday night.

Blazejewski led the Lakers against the Scots with 23 points and eight rebounds, while senior forward Sarah Cubr added 18 points and freshman guard Kandace Crittendon chipped in 11 points and five rebounds.

Last season, Blazejewski was named to the All-GLIAC Second Team after averaging 13.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Along with scoring in double figures 19 times, she ranked 12th in overall scoring in the GLIAC and 14th in field goal percentage.

Schemberger led the conference in overall field goal percentage (.659) and was the sixth-leading rebounder (6.8 rpg) in 2010-11. She finished the season ranked second on LSSU's career field goal percentage chart at .599.

Through three games, Cubr is shooting 60 percent (12-of-20) from the behind-the-arc.

The Lakers have made nine NCAA Tournament appearances and won four straight GLIAC Championships from 2001 through 2005.