WSU Women's Basketball Game Notes (PDF)
GAME STORYLINES
Wayne State heads to the Upper Peninsula for the second time in two weeks, playing road contests Thursday at Michigan Tech and Saturday at Northern Michigan. WSU was victorious in both meetings in Detroit earlier this season.
The Green and Gold dropped one spot in the USA Today Sports' Top 25 Coaches Poll, released Tuesday. WSU fell from No. 18 to No. 19. It's Wayne State's fifth straight week in the poll.
The Warriors saw their seven-game win streak come to an end Saturday, as WSU lost its first home game of the season, 85-78, to Saginaw Valley. Wayne State shot 52 percent from the floor in the defeat.
WSU continues to lead the GLIAC in scoring at 79.5 points per game. Wayne State also leads the league in field goal percentage, shooting 48.2 percent from the floor this season.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN TECH
The Huskies are 10-1 at home this season, with their only loss coming in an 84-80 non-conference loss to Minnesota-Duluth on Nov. 23. Michigan Tech is coming off a 72-64 loss at Grand Valley last Saturday.
Sophomore guard Mackenzie Perttu is averaging 15.5 points per game, while fellow sophomores Danielle Blake (12.6 ppg) and Kylie Moxley (12.3 ppg) also average in double figures for MTU.
Blake pulls down a team-best 7.0 rebounds per game and paces Michigan Tech at 2.0 blocks per contest.
Moxley is shooting a team-high 55.8 percent from the floor. As a team, the Huskies shoot 35.1 percent from beyond the arc and 76.8 percent from the free throw line.
Kim Cameron is in her fourth season as head coach and led the Huskies to a national title in 2011.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. MICHIGAN TECH
The Warriors have won the last two games with the Huskies, winning both games at home. WSU was a 74-63 winner over MTU earlier on Jan. 23 in Detroit. Wayne State is 6-20 in games played in Houghton and lost 77-56 to the Huskies last season at Michigan Tech.
SCOUTING NORTHERN MICHIGAN
The Wildcats have won their last two contests, winning road games at Grand Valley and Ferris State last week. Both victories came by three points or less. Northern Michigan is 9-2 on its home court in 2013-14.
Northern Michigan is second in the GLIAC in scoring defense, allowing just 64.6 points per game. NMU is also fifth in the conference in rebounding, pulling down 40.6 boards per contest.
Junior guard Alyssa Colla paces the Wildcats in scoring at 16.6 points per game. Sophomore Anna Liewen just recently returned to the lineup and is averaging 9.2 points and 6.2 rebounds in six games.
NMU takes an average of 22.4 three-point attempts per contest, sinking 33.0 percent of its shots.
Wildcat head coach Troy Mattson has recorded 112 wins in his ninth season at Northern Michigan.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. NORTHERN MICHIGAN
WSU is 21-28 all-time against Northern Michigan, including 9-15 in games played in Marquette. The Warriors have won four of their last five contests against NMU and won the last meeting in the Upper Peninsula, a 63-59 game last season. WSU was a 75-72 winner earlier this season on Jan. 25.
IN THE RANKINGS
Wayne State was ranked in the USA Today Sports Top 25 Coaches Poll for the fifth consecutive week on Tuesday, Feb. 11. Prior to this season, no Warrior team had been ranked in the Top 25 in the national rankings. The Warriors were also ranked No. 34 in the Bennett Rankings and were No. 19 in the Massey Ratings.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
WSU is 9-1 at home this season and the Warriors are 21-4 in their last two seasons when playing at the Matthaei Center. Wayne State had a 17-game win streak before falling against Saginaw Valley in its last contest at home.
IN THE RECORD BOOKS
The Warriors are taking aim at a few team records this season. Wayne State is averaging 79.5 points per game, above the old mark of 77.3 set by the 2002-03 squad. WSU has a better field goal percentage (48.2) to this point than the current team record of 45.3 percent set during the 1994-95 campaign.
Junior
Shareta Brown is also making her mark on the record book in her first season as a Warrior. She is on pace to set the single season records for field goal percentage and free throws made. Delonda Little holds the field goal percentage mark at 59.1, which was set in 1994-95, while Ebony Vincent made 125 free throws during the 2003-04 season to hold that record.
GLIAC/NATIONAL LEADERS
Individually,
Shareta Brown is first in the conference in scoring (20.8 ppg), steals per game (2.2) and field goal percentage (63.7 percent). She is second in the GLIAC in field goals made (151), total points (416) and rebounding (11.6 rpg). She is seventh in the nation in double-doubles (12), second in field goal percentage, sixth in rebounding and 19th in points per game.
Jackie Jones is first in the league in assists per game (4.7) and total assists (98).
Imari Redfield and
Kayla Bridges are third and seventh, respectively, in the league in field goal percentage, while
Kristen Long and Jones are each in the top five in assist-to-turnover ration.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Shareta Brown was named GLIAC North Player of the Week on Tuesday (Feb. 4), following a week in which she had three consecutive double-doubles to lead the Warriors to a 3-0 record.
It's the second time this season that Brown has earned the weekly conference accolade and third time this season that a WSU player has been selected for the award.
Imari Redfield earned the award on Jan. 6, with Brown receiving it a week later on Jan. 13.
LAST TIME OUT
Four starters scored in double figures, but the Wayne State University women's basketball team dropped its first home contest of the season in a 85-78 defeat to Saginaw Valley State on Saturday, Feb. 8. WSU was led in scoring by
Destiny Lavita-Stephens, who finished with 15 points.
Imari Redfield added 14 points, while
Jackie Jones tallied 11 points and seven assists.
Wayne State took its first lead of the game at the 15:27 mark of the first half after Lavita-Stephens knocked down a triple, giving WSU a 11-10 advantage. SVSU would regain the lead however and after a Lavita-Stephens lay-up tied the game, 16-16, the Cardinals went on a 14-2 run to go up 30-18 with 8:05 left in the first 20 minutes.
The Warriors scored seven of the next nine points, highlighted by a three-pointer by
Ondrea Hughes and a lay-up by Redfield. SVSU again led by double figures after SVSU's Shelby Herrington converted on a three-point play with 3:05 left in the first half.
Christina Green scored the final six points of the half for Wayne State, which trailed 45-36 at the break.
The Warriors cut the SVSU led down to five points three different times in the first four minutes of the second half. A lay-up by Jones cut the Cardinal lead to 51-46, with 16:26 remaining. Saginaw Valley's Katelyn Carriere knocked down back-to-back triples, however, as the Cardinals surged to a 57-46 lead. Lavita-Stephens countered with her second triple of the night to cut the lead to eight points, 57-49, with 14:15 to play. SVSU again used a big run, behind Carriere and Kayla Womack, scoring 19 of the next 26 points to earn a 76-56 advantage with 6:28 left in the contest.
Wayne State countered with a run of its own, cutting a 20-point SVSU lead down to six points after Redfield's jumper made it 79-73 SVSU with 1:03 left to go. SVSU would increase the lead back to 10 points, 83-73, with 19 seconds left.
Shareta Brown made a lay-up and a triple in a span of five seconds to get the Warriors to within five points, 83-78, with 5.8 seconds left on the clock. However, Carriere sank both free throws in a double bonus situation to secure the victory.
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.
COMCAST/XFINITY
One more game will be broadcast on Comcast Channel 900 in 2013-14. WSU hosts Grand Valley on Feb. 22. Ryan Ermanni, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson will call the action.
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.
