Box Score

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HILLSDALE, Mich. -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team won its ninth straight game Thursday, holding off host Hillsdale College for an 88-85 triumph. The Warriors (10-1 overall) stayed unbeaten in the GLIAC, improving to 7-0.

Junior center Shareta Brown (Pontiac, Mich. / Grand Blanc) led five Wayne State players in double figures with 18 points. She also had a team-high nine rebounds.

Junior guard Jackie Jones (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) scored six points in a WSU 11-0 run to start the game. Hillsdale (3-8, 2-5 GLIAC) would come back to tie the game four times in the first half. Wayne State led at halftime, 53-41. It was the highest-scoring first half this season for WSU.

Wayne State had its largest lead of the game four minutes into the second half, 63-46, after senior Lena Thomas (Bloomfield Twp., Mich. / Bloomfield Hills Andover) converted on a three-pointer.

Hillsdale continued to chip at the double-digit deficit, pulling to within four points at the second media timeout of the second half, 69-65, after HC center Megan Fogt converted on an old-fashioned three-point play. Fogt, the leading rebounder in the nation entering the game, had 26 points and 13 rebounds.

Junior forward Kayla Bridges (Canton, Mich.) and junior Ondrea Hughes (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Loy Norrix) combined to score the next eight points for Wayne State, giving WSU an eight-point edge, 77-69, with 7:03 remaining. The Warriors held an 80-73 lead at the final media break with 4:50 remaining.

The Chargers scored the next five points and a Kayla Geffert three-pointer made it 80-78 WSU with 2:16 left in the game.

Senior Imari Redfield (Detroit, Mich. / Country Day) followed with an offensive rebound and lay-up, but Geffert, who scored a game-high 27 points, converted on an conventional three-point play to pull Hillsdale to within one point, 82-81, with 1:41 remaining.

Brown gave WSU an 84-81 lead on a lay-up with 1:25 remaining, but fouled out of the game 13 seconds later, which also sent Fogt to the free throw line. Fogt sank both pulling HC to within one point again, 84-83.

After a WSU turnover and two missed shots by Hillsdale, freshman center Lauren Bright (Romeo, Mich.) converted on her first shot since returning from injury, giving the Warriors a three-point cushion, 86-83, with just 18 seconds left. After a Hillsdale miss, Redfield padded the WSU lead to 88-83 on two free throws with 10 seconds remaining.

Hillsdale would convert on a lay-up with four seconds remaining to make the game 88-85, and had a chance to tie the game after Thomas missed consecutive free throws for WSU, but the Chargers couldn't get a shot away in the last few seconds.

Jones added 14 points, while Bridges scored 13 points for the Warriors. Sophomore Brittany Streetman (Warren, Mich. / Lincoln) had a season-high 13 points and Redfield had her third straight game in double figures with 14 points. Redfield also had nine rebounds, while Bridges had seven boards. Thomas had a team-high six assists.

Wayne State shot 54 percent from the field and 77 percent from the free throw line. Hillsdale made 47 percent of its shots, while sinking 69 percent of its foul shots. WSU held advantages over Hillsdale in rebounds (35-32) and steals (7-5).

The Warriors will look to continue their win streak Saturday at Findlay.