WSU Women's Basketball Game Notes (PDF)
GAME STORYLINES
Wayne State plays its next four games on the road beginning Thursday at Hillsdale. The Warriors are 4-1 in road games this season and 16-12 all-time in road contests under coach
Carrie Lohr.
WSU is one of three GLIAC teams to start with an unblemished 6-0 record. Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech, also members of the North Division, have each won their first six league games.
The Warriors are riding an eight-game win streak following two home victories last week over Walsh and Malone. The eight consecutive victories tied the sixth-longest streak in program history. WSU stayed perfect at home and improved to 5-0 inside the Matthaei Center with its wins to open 2014.
The Green & Gold have the top shooting percentage in the league (47.1 percent) and are the second-highest scoring squad in the GLIAC, averaging 77.7 points per game.
SCOUTING HILLSDALE
The Chargers ended a three-game losing skid in their last contest, defeating Ferris State 79-75 in Big Rapids on Jan. 4 to improve to 2-4 in the GLIAC. HC has the top rebounder in the nation in junior forward Megan Fogt, who grabs 16.5 rebounds per game. Fogt is third in the GLIAC in scoring at 18.5 points per game.
Senior guard Marissa DeMott averages 12.5 points per game and leads the Chargers in free throw percentage at 85.7 percent. Senior forward Angela Bisaro leads Hillsdale in assists per game (2.5) and is second on the squad in rebounding (4.2 rpg).
Claudette Charney is in her 12th season with Hillsdale and is the longest-tenured women's basketball coach in the GLIAC. She reached 500 career wins in November 2012 with a victory over Ohio Midwestern. She previously has had coaching stops at Grand Valley, Saginaw Valley and Alma.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. HILLSDALE
The Warriors have won three of the last four meetings with the Chargers, including earning a 70-66 home victory last season on Jan. 3, 2013. All four of those contests were decided by 10 points or less. WSU is 32-35 all-time against the Chargers. Wayne State is 2-1 against HC under coach
Carrie Lohr. WSU is also 12-22 in games played at Hillsdale.
SCOUTING FINDLAY
Entering Thursday's game against Saginaw Valley, the Oilers have dropped three straight games and five of their last six contests overall. UF started 2-0 in the GLIAC with wins over Lake Superior and Northwood, but has since dropped four consecutive league matchups. Findlay is hitting 74.6 percent of its shots at the foul line and 40.7 percent of shots overall.
Junior forward Lacey Kessler is hitting 50 percent of shots from the field and leads UF in scoring at 12.1 points per game. Sophomore forward Margaret Wuebker is also averaging in double figures at 11.0 ppg and is the team's leading rebounder at 4.9 rebounds per contest.
Jim Wiedie is in his first year as head coach after serving as an assistant for the UF women's team for two seasons.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. FINDLAY
The Warriors faced Findlay three times during the 2012-13 season, falling in the regular season and GLIAC Tournament before beating the Oilers 63-58 in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional. Wayne State is 16-19 all-time against Findlay. WSU is 5-11 in road games against Findlay and 2-3 in games played under coach Lohr. Five of the past six games between UF and WSU have been decided by seven points or less.
GLIAC/NATIONAL LEADERS
Shareta Brown is in the top 15 in the nation in four different statistical categories. She leads the GLIAC and is 10th in the country in scoring at 22.2 points per contest. She is also first in the league and sixth in the nation in field goal percentage (63.8), while first and 12th, respectively, in steals (3.7 per game). Brown is second in rebounding in the GLIAC at 11.1 rebounds per game.
Jackie Jones is second in the GLIAC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.5 and third in the conference at 3.9 assists per game.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Senior
Imari Redfield was named GLIAC North Division Player of the Week on Monday, Jan. 6 following a week in which she averaged 22.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in victories over Walsh and Malone. She is the first Warrior to be honored by the conference with the weekly award this season.
Redfield scored a career-high 30 points on 13 of 16 shooting against Walsh, surpassing her previous career by 17 points. She added seven rebounds and two blocks against the Cavaliers. She followed that performance with a 14-point, six-rebound effort against the Pioneers. For the season, Redfield is sixth in the GLIAC in shooting percentage (57.1).
LAST TIME OUT
The Wayne State University women's basketball team held off a late run by Malone University on Jan. 4, staying perfect in GLIAC play with a 69-62 victory at the Matthaei Center. The Warriors won their eighth straight contest and improved to 6-0 overall in the conference (9-1 overall).
WSU never trailed, but Malone (7-5, 2-4 GLIAC) cut the Wayne State lead to one point several times in the second half. WSU scored 10 of the final 14 points of the game to help clinch the victory.
Shareta Brown had game-highs of 27 points and nine rebounds for the Warriors.
Imari Redfield added 14 points and six boards for WSU.
Malone would cut the Wayne State lead to one point five different times in the last seven minutes of the game. Malone's Selana Reale pulled the Pioneers to within one point for the fifth time after she knocked down a jumper to cut the WSU advantage to one point, 59-58, with 3:06 remaining.
Kristen Long sank two free throws on the ensuing possession to give WSU a 61-58 lead. After two possessions by each team resulted in no points, Long gave the Warriors some breathing room. On a near Malone steal and with the shot clock winding down, Long connected on a three-pointer from the corner to give Wayne State a 64-58 lead with just 1:17 left.
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.
