Women's Basketball | 11/12/2015 2:15:00 PM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball program returns six letterwinners from last season and the Warriors have their sights set on a fourth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.  Head coach Carrie Lohr begins her fifth season with the program and holds an 80-37 record as the Warriors bench boss.  Wayne State finished its two-game exhibition slate with an 0-2 record. The Warriors dropped a 101-52 decision to the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame on Nov. 7.  Senior Brittany Streetman scored 21 points, going 7-for-9 from beyond the arc.  WSU fell to Eastern Michigan, 70-43, on Tuesday, Nov. 10.  Junior Christina Green led WSU with 12 points. 

IN THE POLLS
The GLIAC released its preseason coaches poll on Oct. 28 and Wayne State was tabbed to finish third in the South Division.  Senior Brittany Streetman was voted to the All-GLIAC South Division Second Team.  The Warriors totaled 83 points, placing behind Ashland and Walsh, and tied with Findlay. 

LAST  TIME OUT
Wayne State concluded exhibition play Tuesday evening with a 70-43 setback at Eastern Michigan University.

The Warriors led 4-0 in the early going with junior Christina Green scoring all four points from the paint.   EMU did not make its first field goal until the 6:31 mark of the opening quarter, and Wayne State would manage just four points in the final seven minutes on a pair of buckets by Green.   The Eagles led 11-8 after the first 10 minutes despite WSU holding an 8-0 edge in points off turnovers.

Wayne State pulled within one twice (11-10, 13-12) early in the second stanza on a basket by freshman Brooke Wallace and a pair of free throws by sophomore Nina Foster, respectively.   Eastern Michigan went on a 17-2 run as WSU's lone points came on a fast-break hoop by Foster until senior Brittany Streetman sank two foul shots with 79 seconds left before intermission.   Senior Ashley Wilson contributed a lay-up off a feed from sophomore Payton Birchmeier in the final minute to cut the Warriors deficit to 12 (30-18).

WSU tallied 10 of the first 16 points in the second half, the last three coming on a triple by Streetman to pull the Warriors within eight (36-28) with just under four minutes left in the third period.   EMU closed out the quarter on a 13-5 run to grab a 49-33 advantage after 30 minutes.

The Eagles out-scored the Warriors 21-10 over the final 10 minutes.

Green totaled a team-high 12 points to lead WSU, while Foster added eight points and six rebounds.  Sophomore Shannon Wilson chipped in a team-best seven rebounds as the Warriors held a 48-45 edge on the glass.

Cha Sweeney led Eastern Michigan with 19 points and four steals, while making 10-of-12 from the foul line.   Phillis Webb added 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds.

Both teams struggled from the field with Wayne State shooting 27 percent (17-of-63) compared to 34 percent (22-of-64) for Eastern Michigan.  WSU was just 1-of-19 (5 percent) from beyond the arc, while the Eagles shot 11 percent (2-of-18) from three-point range.  The Warriors were 8-of-14 (57 percent) from the charity stripe with EMU making 73 percent (24-of-33) of its free throw attempts.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Ohio Valley looks to rebuild after a 6-19 (5-11 GMAC) season in 2014-15. The Fighting Scots will be led by interim head coach Jazmone Turner, who was the previous assistant coach. OVU did not return any players from last season, and signed 10 freshmen and three transfers for the 2015-16 season.  Last year, the Fighting Scots averaged 56.2 points a game while shooting 34.2 percent from the floor and making 6.3 three-pointers per game. 

The Fighting Scots dropped an exhibition contest, 81-40, at Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 8.  Freshman Jalyn Gilbert scored 10 points, while classmate Charday Pitts grabbed eight boards.

Salem International returns nine letterwinners from last season and welcome nine newcomers for the 2015-16 season.  The Tigers will rely on two returning starters in senior Samantha Aikens and sophomore Briana Priestly.  Aikens averaged 14.1 points a game a year ago.  Priestly started 25 games as a true freshman, playing 626 minutes and grabbing 11 steals. SIU posted an 0-23 overall record with an 0-16 mark in the GMAC.  

THE SERIES
The Warriors will meet the Fighting Scots of Ohio Valley for the first time on Saturday.  Wayne State leads the all-time series against Salem International, 1-0,  with the Warriors winning, 96-43, last season during the WSU Classic (Dec. 19, 2014). 

OUTLOOK
In head coach Carrie Lohr's four seasons at Wayne State University, her squads have earned an NCAA Tournament bid the last three seasons.  WSU has recorded five NCAA wins in that time, which is tied for the most in the Midwest Region, as well as collecting the Warriors first-ever NCAA Tournament victory in 2013. 

Last season, the Green and Gold finished with an impressive 23-6 overall record, going 18-4 in the GLIAC to make its fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament in program history.  The 23 wins equaled the school record, while the 18 league victories were the most in program history.  WSU faced two nationally-ranked programs, topping No. 7 Drury in the opening round before falling to No. 4 Lewis in the NCAA Regional semifinal. 

The Warriors will strive to return to the "Big Dance" for the fourth consecutive year this March.  "The goal is to get back to the NCAA Tournament … that's it," said Lohr. 

Wayne State lost seven letterwinners including Shareta Brown, an All-American First Team honoree and consensus Division II National Player of the Year.

"In terms of Shareta, you just don't replace a player like that. She is a once in a lifetime player that comes through any program," Lohr stated.  "I wouldn't say we are going to replace Shareta, but the exciting part is there's an opportunity for players to step up."
The Warriors return three seniors this fall in Kristen Long, Brittany Streetman and Ashley Wilson.  Long and Streetman have played all four years for WSU, while Wilson transferred from Olivet Nazarene three years ago, and Lohr will count on their leadership this season. 

Long has logged over 1,600 minutes with appearances in 89 games making 14 starts, including five in the NCAA Tournament.  Streetman led the team in three-pointers made (42) and three-point field goal percentage (.442) last season and has posted 41 career starts.  Wilson redshirted last year due to the depth on the roster, but played in 30 games for WSU in 2013-14.

"All three of them in their own way have been strong leaders for us," commented Lohr.  "And my expectation is the three of them will lead us this year."

Also returning are junior Christina Green, redshirt sophomore Tori Bellamy and sophomores Nina Foster, Sara Ruhstorfer and Shannon Wilson.  This experienced group has played a combined 721 minutes in 79 games, along with scoring 248 points during last season.

WSU welcomes transfers Payton Birchmeier (Marist) and Ajai Meeks (Schoolcraft CC).  Birchmeier played in all 33 games and averaged 3.5 points and 2.6 rebounds per game for the Red Foxes a year ago.  The 6-3 Meeks appeared in 27 contests for the Ocelots in 2012-13 and will aid the Warriors effort in the paint. 

"For Payton and Ajai, my expectation is they're not going to come in and perform like freshmen.  So my expectation for them is a little higher because I feel they've already been through the freshman year," added Lohr.  "I know they are going to be learning a new system and a new style of play, but in terms of basketball IQ plus their knowledge of the game is very strong, I expect they are going to help us on and off the court."

Coach Lohr and her staff of Karen Lafata and Joel Whymer added four true freshmen in India Hawkins (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy), Jessica Murphy (Oxford, Mich.), Paige Villemure (Flat Rock, Mich.) and Brooke Wallace (Oberlin, Ohio / Amherst Steele).
 
Hawkins was a 2015 Associated Press and Detroit News Class C Honorable Mention All-State selection and received BCAM Academic All-State accolades her senior year, while Murphy was named to the 2015 BCAM Class A All-State First Team. Villemure was selected to the 2015 BCAM Class B All-State First Team as well as the Free Press Class B All-State First Team. Wallace earned Lorain County 2015 Miss Basketball and was named to the 2015 Associated Press Northeast Lakes All-District Second Team. 

"I think our four freshmen are going to give the upperclassmen a battle for minutes," stated Lohr.  "In the long run, I see those four players really growing with our program and having strong four-year careers here." 

The staff is optimistic the Junior Varsity squad, in its second year this fall, will assist underclassmen getting acclimated to the collegiate playing level.  Lohr felt the program aided in player development, especially later in the Varsity season. 

"I think our JV program definitely helped our Varsity players," Lohr explained.  "Christina Green, I think single-handedly won the game for us at Northern Michigan.  Christina Green didn't step into that Northern Michigan game cold– she had been playing a lot of minutes in running our system.  So when her teammates were not getting the job done, she was ready. That's what we were looking for out of the JV program."

The Warriors played two exhibition games last week against Division I opponents, Notre Dame and Eastern Michigan, in preparation for a difficult 2015-16 season.

Wayne State will open the regular season at the GLIAC/GMAC Challenge in Painesville, Ohio, where WSU will take on Ohio Valley and Salem International on Nov. 14-15.  Before GLIAC play begins, the Warriors will travel to Midwest Region opponent Indianapolis on Nov. 19 and will host Lawrence Tech 10 days later.  Home conference opponents include Northern Michigan, Michigan Tech, Hillsdale, Saginaw Valley State, Tiffin, Lake Erie, Ashland, Malone, Ohio Dominican, Walsh and Findlay.

In addition to its league schedule, NCAA Tournament power Lewis University visits the Matthaei on Dec. 20 prior to the Warriors traveling to Cedarville (Ohio) on Dec. 30.  In the 28 game regular season slate, WSU will play four teams, Ashland (twice), Cedarville, Lewis and Michigan Tech, who appeared in the NCAA Tournament last season.  Wayne State will again compete in the GLIAC South Division for a second consecutive season.

COMCAST/XFINITY
Beginning on Dec. 10 every men's and women's basketball home game with the exception of the Dec. 13 Michigan Tech contest will be broadcast live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN900.  Sean Baligian, Rod Beard, and Joe Abramson will call the action.

NEXT UP
WSU will travel to Indianapolis to play UIndy on Thursday, Nov. 19 at Nicoson Hall.  The contest is slated for 6:00 p.m. EST.  The Warriors defeated the Greyhounds, 77-59, in Motown during the 2014-15 regular season.