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DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team has been one of the better shooting teams in the country all season, but the Warriors fell victim to a cold-shooting day Saturday as top-seeded WSU fell to No. 5 seed Malone University in a GLIAC Tournament semifinal game, 61-53, at the Matthaei Center.
The Warriors (21-7 overall) shot a season-low 36.2 percent from the floor, making just 1-of-15 shots from beyond the arc. With the victory, the Pioneers (21-9 overall) will meet Northern Michigan University in the GLIAC Tournament championship game at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Matthaei Center.
Junior center
Shareta Brown (Pontiac, Mich. / Grand Blanc) notched her 17th double-double of the season, scoring a game-high 16 points to go along with 12 rebounds and three blocks. Brown became just the second player in program history to record 500 points and 300 rebounds in a single season with her first rebound of the game in the first half.
Senior
Imari Redfield (Detroit, Mich. / Country Day) added 11 points for the Warriors, while junior
Ashley Wilson (Portage, Mich. / Northern) scored eight points off the bench for WSU.
Wayne State jumped out quickly to a lead in the game, gaining an 11-5 advantage at the first media timeout. Redfield scored six of WSU's first 11 points of the game. Wayne State continued to lead and earned an 18-12 lead after junior
Kayla Bridges (Canton, Mich. / Canton) converted on a three-point play with 12:04 left in the first half.
Malone tied the game, 21-21, on a jumper by Deborah Simmers with 7:14 remaining in the half. WSU would again gain the lead, 25-21, on buckets by Bridges and Wilson, but Malone scored 12 of the final 14 points of the half to take a 33-27 lead at the break. Redfield had a game-high eight points at halftime.
The Pioneers went on a 12-5 run to open the second half, ultimately taking a 45-34 lead five minutes in the half. Malone continued to lead between 11 and seven points for the next nine minutes.
Wayne State used a 6-0 run in a span of three minutes to pull to within three points, 53-50. Brown scored all six of the points for the Warriors during the stretch.
Simmers ended the run with a jumper with 2:55 remaining to give Malone a 55-50 lead. Brown followed by making 1-of-2 free throws, but Malone's Sydnee Penn followed with a lay-up as the Pioneers went up 57-51 with just 1:15 left on the clock. After a WSU missed jumper, Simmers added a free throw to give MU a seven points lead, 58-51, with 43 seconds left.
Junior
Ondrea Hughes (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Loy Norrix) converted on a lay-up with 32 seconds left, but missed the ensuing free throw after being fouled on the shot.
Malone guard Selana Reale helped clinch the game by making three free throws in the final 27 seconds. Reale had team-highs of 14 points and 12 rebounds for Malone. Simmers added 13 points, while Logan Pastor had five assists and six rebounds for MU.
Junior
Jackie Jones (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) had a game-high seven assists for WSU.
Both teams pulled down 39 rebounds, while Malone shot 39 percent from the field. The Pioneers shot 4-of-11 from three-point range.
The Warriors, ranked No. 5 in the Midwest regional rankings, will await to see if they qualified for the NCAA Division II Tournament. The selection show is set for 10 p.m. Sunday night.
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