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HOUGHTON, Mich. -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team held off a late charge by Michigan Tech University to earn a hard-fought 90-82 road victory on Thursday and stay in sole possession of first place overall in the GLIAC.
The victory lifts the No. 19-ranked Warriors to 16-2 in the conference and 19-3 overall. MTU falls to 14-4 in the GLIAC and 16-6 overall.
The win over Michigan Tech was WSU's third straight over the Huskies. Wayne State also handed MTU its first home conference loss of the season.
Both teams started off slow offensively. Wayne State led 6-2 just four minutes into the game and after MTU gained an 8-6 lead, the Warriors proceeded to go on a 14-1 run to lead 20-9 with 8:31 left before halftime.
Michigan Tech pulled to within eight points, 20-12, with 7:16 remaining in the half, but the Warriors would lead by double digits for the rest of the opening 20 minutes. WSU went up 15 points, 27-12, after consecutive buckets by
Ashley Wilson,
Kristen Long and
Imari Redfield.
Wayne State led by as much as 20 points in the first half and led at the break, 38-22. The Warriors shot 50 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes, while limiting the Huskies to a 25.8 percent shooting clip in the first half. WSU also had a 24-15 rebound advantage in the first half. Brown scored 12 first-half points to lead Wayne State.
The Warriors led by as much as 22 points in the second half and had a 69-47 lead with 6:16 left on the clock.
Michigan Tech started hitting from the outside down the stretch and pulled to within seven points, 73-66, with 1:56 left on the clock. The Huskies made five triples in the second half. MTU cut the Wayne State lead to 79-74 after a Danielle Blake three-pointer with just 43 seconds left.
While the Huskies started hitting from deep, Wayne State also made its free throws down the stretch. WSU made 30-of-36 free throws overall (83.3 percent) for the game and sank 11-of-12 foul shots in the final 44 seconds.
Shareta Brown had her 13th double-double of the season with game-highs of 27 points and 11 rebounds. Brown was 12-of-14 from the free throw line in the second half. She added five steals and five assists for the Warriors.
Destiny Lavita-Stephens added 14 points for WSU.
Jackie Jones (12 points), Long (11 points) and Wilson (10 points) were also in double figures as five Warriors scored at least 10 points.
Danielle Blake paced Michigan Tech with 24 points.
Wayne State shot 47 percent (28-for-59) from the field. Michigan Tech was 40 percent from the field and sank 8-of-25 three-point attempts. WSU held the advantage in rebounding, 44-35.
WSU returns to the court Saturday for an 11 a.m. contest at Northern Michigan University.
