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DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team fell in a thriller Saturday, as the No. 21-ranked Warriors dropped their third straight game in a 65-64 loss to Grand Valley State University at the Matthaei Center. With the loss, WSU falls to 19-6 overall and 16-5 in the GLIAC, while Grand Valley improves to 14-11 overall and 12-9 in the GLIAC.

Wayne State still has the lead overall in the GLIAC with one game remaining, with Michigan Tech remaining to play Saturday night. If the Huskies beat Lake Superior, the two teams will be tied for the overall GLIAC lead. WSU can clinch the No. 1 seed for the GLIAC Tournament with a victory over Lake Superior in its regular season finale on Thursday.

The Warriors had a nine-point lead, 64-55, with 4:20 remaining in the game after Ashley Wilson (Portage, Mich. / Northern) completed a three-point play. The Lakers would go on to score the final 10 points of the game. Grand Valley pulled to within two points, 64-62, with 1:57 remaining on a triple by Piper Tucker.

Wayne State had a shot clock violation with 14.7 seconds left and after a timeout, GVSU's Dani Crandall drove to the basket with under 10 seconds remaining, drawing a foul and converting on a lay-up. Her bucket tied the game, 64-64, with 6.8 seconds left and a free throw to come. After a WSU 30-second timeout, Crandall connected on the free throw to give the Lakers a 65-64 lead. With fouls to give, Grand Valley fouled with 4.7 seconds left. Wayne State then called a timeout with 3.0 seconds remaining before inbounding one final time.

On the final inbound of the game, Crandall nearly stole the ball and the Warriors were unable to get a final look at the rim.

WSU jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game as junior Ondrea Hughes (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Loy Norrix) scored the final three points on the run on a triple. WSU would go up 16-4 in the first 10 minutes of the game after sophomore Brittany Streetman (Warren, Mich. / Lincoln) connected on a triple from the corner. Wayne State would lead by as much as 15 points in the first half and led at the break, 37-25.

Grand Valley went on a 25-15 run to open the second half and closed to within two points, 52-50, on a Kayla Dawson lay-up with 9:30 left in the game. WSU used a 12-5 run to nearly regain its double-digit advantage, 64-55, but Wayne State would only get off two shots in the final four minutes, while turning the ball over four times in that stretch.

Junior Shareta Brown (Pontiac, Mich. / Grand Blanc) led the Warriors with her 15th double-double of the season, totaling 22 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. Brown became just the seventh player in program history to score 500 points in a season. She has 503 points following her scoring output Saturday. The last player to score 500 points in a season was Jodi Young, who did it in consecutive season in 2002-03 and 2003-04.

Senior Imari Redfield (Detroit, Mich. / Country Day) added 14 points and seven boards for WSU. Junior Jackie Jones (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) had five points, six rebounds and six assists for Wayne State.

The Warriors shot 25-for-52 (48.1 percent) from the field and 12-of-15 from the free throw line. WSU had 18 turnovers, including 12 in the second half. GVSU scored 20 points off turnovers. Grand Valley turned the ball over eight times. WSU almost doubled the Lakers in rebounding, pulling down 41 boards against just 21 for GVSU. The Lakers shot 51.9 percent in the second half, including sinking 6-of-11 three-point tries.

Wayne State concludes the regular season Thursday in a 6 p.m. home contest against Lake Superior.

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