Boxscore

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball squad began its 2012-13 season with a furious comeback in the last 16 minutes but fell just short in a 75-71 setback to the visiting Lewis Flyers (3-0) Saturday afternoon at the Matthaei.

The contest was tied three times in the first seven minutes with the host Warriors never trailing until LU's Mariyah Henley made a pair from the foul line turning a 10-9 WSU lead into an 11-10 deficit.  Senior center Juanita Cochran (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill) tallied six of Wayne State's first eight points.

Labrenthia Murdock had a triple before Henley's free throws then added a lay-up afterwards and teammate Kristen Itschner followed with a lay-up to finish Lewis' 9-0 run.

A fast-break jumper by senior Paige Sickmiller (Romeo, Mich.) was answered with a triple by Alexis Grayer and the Warriors never got closer than six points the rest of the half.

WSU attempted eight more field goals in the first half but made one less than the Flyers (12-of-32) leading to LU's 35-25 lead at the break.

Lewis began the second half on a 14-4 run to open the largest lead of the game (20 points at 49-29) wiht 15:55 left.  The Flyers made five of their first six shots after intermission including three from beyond the arc by three different players.

Wayne State started to chip away at the deficit by scoring the next six points, five from senior forward Deanna Crumpton (Kentwood, Mich. / East Kentwood).  After a jumper by Murdock, the Warriors responded with six consecutive points on baskets by Sickmiller, senior forward Phaebre Colbert (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Forest Hills Northern) and Crumpton to cut the Flyer lead to 10 (51-41).

A triple by Sickmiller at the 11:08 mark made the deficit seven, the first time in over 10 minutes Lewis' lead was not double digits.  The teams traded hoops until a 5-0 Warrior run cut the margin to four (57-53) with 6:49 left as Colbert sank a pair of foul shots.

Lewis answered with an 8-1 run which began and ended with three-pointers by Grayer giving the guests a 65-54 advantage with just over five minutes remaining.

A 13-4 spurt by Wayne State over a span of 2:20 made it a two-point contest (71-69) with 35.1 seconds left as Colbert made two more free throws.  Nikki Nellen made a pair from the charity stripe with 21.7 seconds remaining restoring the four-point margin (73-69).  

Colbert, who finished 7-of-8 from the foul line, sank two more foul shots with 8.3 seconds left once again making it a two-point game (73-71).   Nellen answered by making both ends of the double bonus with 6.3 seconds on the clock to complete the scoring.

After shooting just 28 percent (11-of-40) from the floor in the first half, WSU improved to 39 percent (16-of-41) in the second half.  However, Lewis also improved going from 38 percent (12-of-32) in the opening 20 minutes to 56 percent (14-of-25) in the second half.

The Warriors did hold slim advantages in points off turnovers (23 to 14), second chance points (14 to 4), bench points (24 to 17) and large 36-20 margin in points in the paint, but Lewis connected on 8-of-13 from beyond the arc which included a 3-of-3 performance by Murdock, who led the Flyers with 17 points.

Cochran totaled a game-high 21 points, while tying LU's Sam Rinehart for game-best rebound total with nine.

Crumpton added 11 points off the Warrior bench, while Jess Reinhart and Grayer each contributed 13 points for the Flyers.

Wayne State's next action will be Saturday, Nov. 24 at sixth-ranked Edinboro in a 1 p.m. tip-off at McComb Fieldhouse.  The Fighting Scots are 56-6 the last two years, but are 1-1 this year after defeating West Liberty (90-71) before falling to Glenville State (101-82).