WSU Women's Basketball Game Notes (PDF)
GAME STORYLINES
Wayne State returns home for two games, hosting Northwood on Thursday and Saginaw Valley on Saturday in contests that will be broadcast on Comcast CN 900. The Warriors have won their last six games and are winners in 16 of the past 17 contests dating back to December 5.
WSU was ranked No. 18 in the Top 25 Coaches Poll, released Tuesday, marking the fourth straight week that the Warriors appeared as one of the top 25 teams in the poll. Wayne State received 254 votes.
The Green and Gold have the best record in the GLIAC at 14-1, with their only blemish coming in a loss at Northwood on Jan. 16. Michigan Tech is one game behind the Warriors in the GLIAC North at 13-2.
The Warriors have two games at home before returning to the road for one final road trip of the regular season. WSU visits Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan on Feb. 13 and Feb. 15, respectively, before playing at Ferris State on Feb. 20.
SCOUTING NORTHWOOD
The Timberwolves have lost three straight after winning five consecutive games. NU lost two road contests against Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan before losing a home game against rival Saginaw Valley. Northwood is 4-6 in road games this season.
Sophomore Lauren Robak leads Northwood and is fifth in the GLIAC in scoring at 17.3 points per game. Juniors Gabrielle Rivette (14.6 ppg) and Sarah Susan (14.2 ppg) are also averaging in double figures for NU.
Junior forward Kaitlin Susan leads the team in rebounding at 8.9 per contest. Junior center Aleigha Wylie averages 5.3 boards per game for Northwood. As a team, Northwood is shooting 39.1 percent from the field and 74.7 percent from the free throw line.
Jeff Curtis is in his 10th season as head coach and has 127 wins in his Northwood career.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. NORTHWOOD
The Warriors are 26-23 all-time against Northwood and 16-8 at home against the Timberwolves. Wayne State is 2-2 against NU under coach
Carrie Lohr. WSU lost 77-65 to Northwood in Midland earlier this season.
SCOUTING SAGINAW VALLEY
The Cardinals have won four straight entering Thursday's game at home against Lake Superior. SVSU won all four of those games against opponents that were higher in the GLIAC North Division standings.
Seniors Kristen Greene and Kayla Womack pace SVSU in scoring at 16.5 points per game and 16.3 ppg, respectively. Greene pulls down 6.7 rebounds per game, while junior Samantha Zirzow averages 6.2 rpg for the Cardinals. Womack leads at 2.8 assists per game. Greene has also made 40 triple attempts this season.
Cardinal head coach Jamie Pewinski is in her third season at the helm of SVSU.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. SAGINAW VALLEY
Wayne State has won its last four games against SVSU and eight of the last nine contests overall. WSU beat the Cardinals, 94-74, on its home court earlier this season on Jan. 18. The Warriors are 30-34 all-time against Saginaw Valley and have a 16-15 record at home in the series against SVSU.
IN THE RANKINGS
Wayne State was ranked in the USA Today Sports Top 25 Coaches Poll for the fourth consecutive week on Tuesday, Feb. 4. The Warriors were also ranked No. 22 in the Bennett Rankings and were No. 14 in the Massey Ratings, which takes into account strength of schedule, home court advantage, offensive and defensive statistics and other factors.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
WSU has won all eight games at home this season and the Warriors are 20-3 in their last two seasons when playing at the Matthaei Center. Wayne State is winning its home contests by an average of 12.0 points per game. Overall the past two seasons, WSU has a 16-game win streak on its home court.
IN THE RECORD BOOKS
The Warriors are taking aim at a few team records this season. Wayne State is averaging 79.3 points per game, above the old mark of 77.3 set by the 2002-03 squad. WSU has a better field goal percentage (47.9) 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 LEADERS
Individually,
Shareta Brown is first in the conference in scoring (21.4 ppg), steals per game (2.4) and field goals made. She is second in the GLIAC in field goal percentage (63.3 percent) and rebounding (11.9 rpg).
Jackie Jones is second in the league in assists per game (4.3) and first in total assists (81).
Imari Redfield is third in the league in field goal percentage (59.6), while
Kristen Long and Jones are fourth and fifth in the GLIAC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.0-1.9).
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
The Wayne State University women's basketball team claimed an 81-71 victory at Lake Superior State University.
The Warriors won for the 16th time in the past 17 contests this season overcoming a slow start which saw the Lakers take a 15-3 lead 4:30 into the contest behind Stephanie Fisher's 13 points. Fisher drained three triples on her first three attempts of the game.
A 13-5 run by WSU over a five-minute period cut the LSSU lead to two at 20-18 at the second media timeout. The next 4:30 was even with each team scoring six points.
Shareta Brown led a late first half scoring spree recording 13 consecutive Warrior points over the final 3:30 to give Wayne State a 39-33 advantage at intermission. Brown had her 11th double-double of the season at halftime with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Fisher ended the opening 20 minutes with 14 points.
WSU began the second half where it left off outscoring the host Lakers 13-5 in the first five minutes to increase its lead to 14 (52-38).
Imari Redfield tallied Wayne State's first eight points to start the second half.
LSSU was able to get within two possessions (six points) a couple of times, but the Warriors closed out the victory thanks to 12 second half points by
Jackie Jones.
Brown finished with a game-high 25 points along with 19 rebounds, while Redfield added 14 points and Jones contributed 13 points.
Kristen Long chipped in with nine points and four assists. The 19 rebounds by Brown was the most by a Warrior since
Juanita Cochran grabbed 23 boards at Saint Joseph's on Dec. 10, 2011. It was also her 11th double-double of the campaign.
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
Six games will be broadcast on Comcast Channel 900 in 2013-14. WSU hosted Tiffin on Dec. 5, and Michigan Tech on Jan. 23 before the Ferris State contest 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, Joe Abramson and Kevin Brechmacher 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.
