WSU Women's Basketball Game Notes (PDF)
GAME STORYLINES
The Warriors are one of six GLIAC teams to begin 2-0 in conference play after home victories over Tiffin and Ohio Dominican. Wayne State (3-1 overall) averaged 86.5 points in its two wins last week. The Warriors are first in the GLIAC as a team with a 51.9 shooting percentage and fourth in scoring at 80.5 ppg.
WSU travels to Lake Erie on Saturday and Ashland on Wednesday to open its road conference slate. The two away contests begin a stretch in which Wayne State plays eight of its next 10 games away from Detroit. The Warriors are 11-10 all-time in league road contest under head coach
Carrie Lohr.
SCOUTING LAKE ERIE
The Storm opened with a 5-0 record and have since dropped three straight games. Most recently, Lake Erie lost in league road contests at Ferris State, 77-65, and at Grand Valley, 76-53.
LEC is averaging 66.5 points per contest, while allowing 63.2 points per game. The Storm are shooting 37.7 percent from the field, while allowing opponents to shoot 40.4 percent per game.
Junior guard Jackie Murray leads the team at 11.8 points per game. She is 22-for-64 on three-point opportunities (34.4 percent) and also converts 85.7 percent of her free throw shots.
Seven players average more than 5.0 points per game for the Storm. Sophomore center Kaeding Skelton is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 7.1 rebounds per contest.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. LAKE ERIE
The Warriors are 3-2 in the all-time series against the Storm, which began in 2010. The Warriors earned a 51-48 win last season over LEC in Detroit. Lake Erie won 81-71 in the last contest played in Painesville, on Dec. 1, 2011. The Warriors are 2-1 against Lake Erie under
Carrie Lohr.
SCOUTING ASHLAND
Following a season in which the Eagles won a national championship, Ashland returns two of five starters to a team that graduated eight letterwinners overall. Junior guard Taylor Woods (21.2 points per game) and senior guard Alyssa Miller (16.2 ppg) are the two returning starters for the Eagles.
AU opened the conference season 2-0 after road victories at Grand Valley (76-73) and Ferris State (97-91). The Eagles rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit, scoring 62 second-half points in the victory over the Lakers. Woods had 34 points, while Miller added 24 points in the victory.
Freshman forward Suzy Wollenhaupt (15.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg) and sophomore guard McKenzie Miller (11.0 ppg) also average in double figures for the Eagles. Wollenhaupt was named GLIAC South Player of the Week on Thursday for the first time in her career.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. ASHLAND
Wayne State is 14-31 in the all-time series against Ashland, which began in 1983. The Warriors played the Eagles twice during the 2012-13 season, losing both contests. WSU met Ashland in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, falling 72-63 in a game that the Warriors led 61-60 with 4:34 remaining.
The Warriors have lost five straight overall against AU and haven't won in Ashland since a 60-54 victory on Jan. 11, 2007. Overall, Wayne State is 5-17 in games played away from Detroit against the Eagles.
GLIAC LEADERS
Shareta Brown is tied for the GLIAC lead in points per game (21.3), leads in field goal percentage (71.4) and is in second in rebounding (10.0 rebounds per game).
Destiny Lavita-Stephens is fifth in the conference in three-point shooting (53.3 percent), while
Kristen Long is perfect from the free throw line (11-for-11) to lead the league.
As a team, the Warriors have the best field goal percentage (51.9) in the conference.
LAST TIME OUT
The Warriors improved to 2-0 in the GLIAC with an 88-75 win over Ohio Dominican on Saturday, Dec. 7 in Detroit.
Shareta Brown scored a season-high 27 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to lead WSU.
Destiny Lavita-Stephens and
Ondrea Hughes each scored 14 points as well for the Warriors.
The lead changed nine times in the first half, but the Warriors used an 11-0 run in a span of 1:52 to take a 35-25 lead with 6:57 left in the first half.
Kristen Long capped off the run with a steal and lay-up. Wayne State led at the break, 51-40, after Lavita-Stephens added her second three-pointer of the first half with just 15 seconds remaining before halftime.
Wayne State opened the second half on a 15-5 run, with Hughes scoring six points and Brown adding five during the stretch. WSU led by as many as 21 points in the second half. Ohio Dominican cut the lead to nine points twice, early in the second half, but WSU led by double digits nearly the entire second half.
Brown finished an impressive night by shooting 11-of-13 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc. She also had three steals and three assists. Lavita-Stephens was 4-of-5 on three-pointers as Wayne State finished 7-of-17 from beyond the arc. Long scored eight points off the bench, while
Jackie Jones dished out four assists.
COACH LOHR
Carrie Lohr, who was named the 12th head coach in the history of women's basketball at WSU on May 11, 2011, is in her third season guiding the Warrior program. She was voted the 2012-13 GLIAC Coach of the Year by her peers after leading Wayne State to a share of the GLIAC North Division regular-season title, the first for the WSU women's basketball program since the 1980-81 season. Lohr also guided the Warriors to their first NCAA tournament victory (63-58 over Findlay) as well as the school's inaugural appearance in the NCAA Regional Championship game.
She recorded her 200th collegiate coaching victory on March 16, 2013, with WSU's 70-60 triumph over Wisconsin-Parkside in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. BCAM selected Lohr as the 2012-13 Women's College Coach of the Year.
2012-13 RECAP
The Warriors won a share of the GLIAC North Division title, advanced to the GLIAC tournament semifinals for the second time in school history and secured an NCAA tournament berth for the second time in program history. WSU won its first two ever NCAA tournament contests and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen before falling at eventual national champion Ashland, 72-63, in a game which WSU led 61-60 with 4:34 remaining.
Last season, the Warriors went 22-9 overall and 17-5 in GLIAC play while winning a share of the GLIAC North Division title. The 22 wins were one shy of the program record achieved in 1980-81 while the 17 conference wins were the most all-time.
COMCAST/XFINITY
Six games will be broadcast on Comcast Channel 900 in 2013-14. WSU entertains Tiffin on Dec. 5, Michigan Tech on Jan. 23 and Ferris State on Jan. 30. There are three televised dates in February with Wayne State hosting Northwood (Feb. 6), Saginaw Valley (Feb. 8) and Grand Valley (Feb. 22). Ryan Ermanni, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson will call the action this season. The games will also be replayed the week following the live event.
ON THE CALL
Former Tartar great Shay Lewis will handle play-by-play duties for home games on Warrior All-Access, a live video webcast of every contest from the Matthaei. Lewis scored 991 points for the Green and Gold while starting all 78 games in her three seasons (1995-98) in Detroit. She also totaled 449 rebounds, 191 assists and 139 steals.
WARRIOR ALL-ACCESS
The 2013-14 school year will mark the fourth season of Warrior All-Access at WSUAthletics.com. Not only will all home WSU basketball, football and volleyball games be available for viewing by a world-wide audience on a pay-per-view basis, but also the Warrior Daily ~ a video each weekday, available for free on WSUAthletics.com featuring interviews with WSU coaches, staff and student-athletes.
Fans wanting to watch Wayne State home events via Warrior All-Access will need a high-speed internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 or higher. Games will be sold on an individual basis with special viewing packages also available. Warrior All-Access will also feature On-Demand Audio and Video with the stored archived video and audio on WSUAthletics.com.
