DETROIT – In a battle of two top-20 squads, the 11th-ranked Wayne State University women's basketball team (8-1 overall, 4-1 GLIAC) defeated the No. 17-Grand Valley State Lakers squad (7-2 overall, 4-1 GLIAC) by an 89-63 score Friday night at the Matthaei.
GVSU took its only lead of the game on its opening possession as Piper Tucker drained a jumper. WSU responded with an 8-0 run with senior center
Shareta Brown (Pontiac, Mich. / Grand Blanc) totaling four points along with lay-ups from senior forward
Amber McCann (Southfield, Mich. / Southfield-Lathrup) and junior guard
Destiny Lavita-Stephens (Grand Blanc, Mich. / Goodrich).
The Warrior advantage was down to three following a triple by Tucker to make it 8-5.
Over the next six minutes, Wayne State outscored the guests 21-12 for a 12-point margin at 29-17 with 10:18 left in the first half. Five different Warriors scored during the run led by Brown with seven points, senior guard
Jackie Jones (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) added five points and McCann contributed four points.
Over the next five minutes, Grand Valley State chipped away at the deficit and pulled within six (35-29) by going on a 12-6 run highlighted by two three-pointers from Kat LaPrairie.
WSU played shutdown defense for the final five minutes of the first half holding the Lakers to just one point as GVSU went 0-for-7 from the floor and 1-of-3 from the charity stripe with two turnovers, while the Warriors managed nine points to take a 14-point lead (44-30) at intermission.
Brown had a double-double in the first half with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Wayne State shot 61 percent from the field (20-of-33) in the opening 20 minutes compared to 33 percent (9-of-27) for the Lakers. GVSU shot 11 free throws in the first half while WSU only attempted four.
The 14-point halftime margin was the closest Grand Valley State would be the rest of the contest as the Warriors scored the first five points after the break for a 19-point advantage.
Wayne State shot 38 percent (13-of-34) in the second half, while the Lakers were again at 33 percent (11-of-33).
Brown grabbed a season-high 24 rebounds to go along with her first 30-point effort as a Warrior. Brown was 12-of-15 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the foul line for 32 points. The 24 rebounds is the third most in a game by a Wayne State player, and the most since Marie Doss set the school mark with 26 against Northwood on Feb. 22, 1986.
Sophomore
Gabby Machado (Pontiac, Mich. / Northern) totaled 11 points off the bench on 3-of-4 field goal shooting and 5-of-5 from the charity stripe.
Jammie Botruff led GVSU with 13 points off the bench, while Tucker contributed 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Wayne State will be at home on Sunday for a 1 p.m. tip-off against Ferris State.
