Box Score
Box Score (HTML)   l   Audio of Lavita-Stephens first half triple   l   Audio of Jones to Brown for easy first half bucket   l   Final four minutes of win over UIndy   l   Post-game interview with assistant coach McAllister

Springfield, Mo. -- The Wayne State University women's basketball squad (22-7 overall) advanced to the second round of the 2014 NCAA Division II tournament with a 63-58 triumph over the University of Indianapolis (23-9 overall) Friday afternoon at the O'Reilly Event Center on the campus of Drury University.

In a see-saw first half that saw nine lead changes, neither team led by more than five points.  WSU took a 25-20 advantage with 5:08 remaining before intermission on a fast break lay-up by junior forward Ashley Wilson (Portage, Mich. / Northern) off a feed from sophomore guard Kristen Long (Corunna, Mich. / Durand).

The Greyhounds scored the next six points before Warrior junior center Shareta Brown (Pontiac, Mich. / Grand Blanc) split a pair from the foul line to knot the game at 26 with 1:24 left in the first half.  UIndy had a lay-up by Erin Murphy in the final 30 seconds for the final points before halftime.

Brown led Wayne State with 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in the first half, while sophomore guard Destiny Lavita-Stephens (Grand Blanc, Mich. / Goodrich) chipped in with eight points, including two triples.

The Greyhounds made 10 field goals in the opening 20 minutes to nine for WSU with each team connecting on two shots from beyond the arc.

The second half was much of the same with eight ties and 11 lead changes. 

The Warriors began the second half on 13-7 run to take a 39-35 lead on a lay-up by Brown.  UIndy scored the next five points before Lavita-Stephens drained another triple at the 12:13 mark putting WSU ahead 42-40.

The Greyhounds answered with a 14-5 spurt to earn their largest lead of the game (7 points at 54-47) with 6:23 remaining.

From there, the Wayne State defense limited UIndy to one made field goal over the final six minutes as the Greyhounds went 1-of-2 from two-point range and 0-for-5 from beyond the arc, plus had two turnovers.

The Warriors ended the contest on a 16-4 run with contributions from many different players - junior forward Kayla Bridges (Canton, Mich.) had five points, sophomore guard Brittany Streetman (Warren, Mich. / Lincoln) drained a triple, senior forward Imari Redfield (Detroit, Mich. / Country Day) had a lay-up, Lavita-Stephens made a pair from the charity stripe and Brown totaled four points, four rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot.

Brown led Wayne State with 18 points which tied for game-high honors with UIndy's Eliza Wortman, along with game-high totals of 16 rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

Lavita-Stephens added 16 points, while Bridges totaled nine points and six rebounds.  Junior point guard Jackie Jones (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) chipped in with three assists and three steals.

Besides Wortman's 18 points, Rose Savela added 11 points and a team-high five rebounds for the Greyhounds.

Wayne State will play at 1 p.m. Eastern on Sunday against the No. 2-seeded Lewis Flyers, who defeated Missouri-St. Louis 69-64 in the second game on Friday.