Women's Basketball | 12/11/2014 12:19:00 PM

STORYLINES
Wayne State (4-0 overall, 2-0 GLIAC), which played its first four regular-season games at the Matthaei, will play its first regular-season road games this weekend with contests at Michigan Tech on Saturday and at Northern Michigan on Monday.  The Huskies are 5-0 this season with the Wildcats entering Saturday's game versus Findlay with a 3-2 overall record.

IN THE POLLS
WSU is ranked eighth this week in the WBCA/USA Today National Poll, the highest ranking in program history.  The Warriors are 10th in the D2SIDA poll and 17th by the Massey Rankings.  Wayne State was predicted to finish first in the South Division in the GLIAC Preseason Media Poll.  Returning All-American Shareta Brown was voted to the All-GLIAC South Division First Team in balloting conducted by the league's head coaches.  Junior Destiny Lavita-Stephens earned a spot on the South Division Second Team. The Warriors totaled 121 points including nine first-place votes to edge Ashland.  

THE SERIES
The Warriors have won the last three meetings against Michigan Tech after nine consecutive victories by the Huskies in the series from Jan. 17, 2008, through Jan. 17, 2013.  MTU leads the all-time series 36-18 including a 20-7 mark at the SDC Gymnasium vs. Wayne State.  WSU won last year's meeting in Houghton by a 90-82 score on Feb. 13, 2014.

Wayne State has won four of the last six meeting against Northern Michigan to pull within 21-29 in the all-time series which began during the 1975-76 season.  WSU is 9-16 all-time in Marquette.  The Warriors suffered an 84-69 setback in their last visit to the Berry Events Center.

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State defeated visting Northwood 66-62 Sunday afternoon at the Matthaei.  Shareta Brown totaled 26 points and 19 rebounds to surpass both the 2,000th-career point plateau as well as the 1,000th-career rebound mark.

WSU trailed in the early going until a fast-break lay-up by Shannon Wilson, making her first career start, off a feed from Gabby Machado snapped a 4-4 deadlock.  The game was tied seven times in the first half with the last one coming at the 8:12 mark as Destiny Lavita-Stephens sank a pair of free throws to turn a 23-22 deficit into a 24-23 lead.  In the tightly contested opening 20 minutes, Northwood's biggest lead was three points (9-6), while WSU's was five points (30-25 and 32-27).  Brown garnered 17 points and eight rebounds in the first half that saw both teams make 11 field goals with the Warriors holding a 34-31 lead based on an 11-of-12 performance from the charity stripe.

Wayne State scored the first 10 points of the second half, holding the Timberwolves without a point for the first 5:10 after the break.  The Warriors led by 10 (59-49) with 4:33 remaining following an offensive rebound and put-back by Machado.  Northwood kept chipping away at the deficit and pulled within four (63-59) on a triple by Emily Kutch with 1:34 left.  Kutch's three pointer, and a later free throw, completed an 11-4 run by NU after Machado's bucket.

Lavita-Stephens split a pair from the foul line with 22 seconds left to make it 64-60.  An offensive rebound and basket by Northwood's Jordyn Nurenberg with 10 seconds remaining cut the Warrior lead to two.  Lavita-Stephens was fouled on the inbounds and sank both free throws in the double bonus to seal the win.

Machado recorded nine rebounds, six points and three assists, while Jackie Jones contributed seven points.  Lauren Robak led three Timberwolves in double figures with 16 points.  Kutch totaled 14 points off the bench, while Gabrielle Rivette scored 10 points before fouling out.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Michigan Tech is off to a 5-0 start, including a pair of conference road wins last weekend at Malone (65-58) and Walsh (82-65).  The Huskies have four players averaging in double figures led by sophomore guard Brenna Heise (12.2 ppg), who is shooting 54 percent (27-of-50) from the floor.  Junior forward Danielle Blake (11.2 ppg), along with sophomore guards Kelli Guy (11.2 ppg) and Morgan Anderson (10.2 ppg) pace the MTU offense.  Jillian Ritchie leads the squad with 34 rebounds, while Blake has 11 blocked shots already this season.  Blake also leads MTU in steals with six, while Anderson and Heise have each recorded 13 assists.

NMU has dropped two of its last three contests to fall to 3-2.  The Wildcats won the season opener in overtime followed by a four-point win at Minnesota State-Moorhead.  Last weekend, NMU lost at Malone (52-48) after notching a five point victory (70-65) at Walsh.  Three seniors are leading Northern Michigan in scoring led by Alyssa Colla's 18.8 ppg.  Guard Lauren Gruber (14.6) and forward Abbey DeBruin (11.0) help the trio account for 44 of NMU's 63.4 ppg.  Gruber and Colla are tied for the team lead in assists with 12, with DeBruin and Colla each having grabbed 37 boards.  Bre Gaspervich has a team-leading nine steals.

NATIONAL STATISTICS
Wayne State is second in all of Division II in team field goal percentage (50.4%), while ranking seventh in scoring margin (+25.3).  The Warriors are ranked 11th in rebounding margin (+11.8), 13th in field goal percentage defense (32.3%), 14th in scoring defense (55.0 ppg), and 18th in three-point field percentage defense (23.4%).  WSU is 22nd in scoring offense (80.3 ppg) and 27th in three-point field goal percentage (38.6%).

In terms of individual national statistics, Shareta Brown is second in defensive rebounds per game (11.0), while leading the nation in total rebounds per contest (15.0).  Brown is 16th in scoring (21.5 ppg), 20th in field goal percentage (60.4%) and 27th in offensive rebounds per game (4.0).

In terms of active Division II players, Brown is first in career points (2,017), scoring average (19.8 ppg), rebounds (1,017), field goals made (693), free throws made (596) and attempted (817) as well as double-doubles (51).  Both her free throws made and attempted totals are first among all active NCAA players (Divisions I, II and III combined), while her double-doubles total is now one more than Central Michigan's Crystal Bradford who has 50.  Brown ranks second in Division II in career field goal percentage (59.2%), sixth in rebounding average (10.0 rpg), eighth in field goals attempted (1,170) and ninth in games played (102 - 68 with Detroit and 34 at WSU).  Jackie Jones is seventh in assists average (3.85) and eighth in total assists (362).

Brown has 203 career assists, 70 blocked shots and 148 steals, while shooting 37.4 percent (34-of-91) from beyond the arc and 72.7 percent from the charity stripe.

NEXT UP
After the trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the Warriors will be hosting the WSU Holiday Tournament on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 19 and 20.  WSU will play Salem International at 7 pm on Friday, following the 5 pm contest between Northwood and Bellarmine.  Saturday's schedule has Northwood facing Salem International at 2 pm, followed by the Warriors contest against Bellarmine at 4 pm.

COMCAST/XFINITY/ALL-ACCESS
Beginning on Jan. 17th every women's and men's basketball home game will be broadcast live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN900.  Sean Baligian, Ryan Ermanni, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson will bring you the action.  Every home game will have a video webcast through WSUAthletics.com.  Cliff Russell will serve as the broadcaster with Ryan Wooley filling in on Dec. 19.

ALL-NEW MATTHAEI
The Matthaei has received a face lift over the course of the past decade. In January of 2014, a new scoreboard and video board were installed which features live action and replays. During the offseason, the Warriors added a new parquet floor and the sub-floor (circa 1965) was replaced. And finally a new basketball office expansion was completed in the fall on the northwest corner of the Matthaei. The new expansion includes six coaches offices, a theater-style film room and a reception area.