Women's Basketball | 11/18/2015 3:25:00 PM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball program went 2-0 at the two-day GLIAC/GMAC Challenge, hosted by Lake Erie College on Nov. 14-15. WSU topped Ohio Valley, 76-45, last Saturday as redshirt senior Ashley Wilson recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and 11 boards.  Wayne State concluded the tournament with an 84-46 victory over Salem International on Sunday.  Sophomore Shannon Wilson led the Warriors with career highs in points (18), steals (6) and rebounds (5). 

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 (2-0) concluded the GLIAC/GMAC Challenge with an 84-46 victory over Salem International last Sunday at the Osborne Center in Painesville, Ohio.  All 12  Warriors who saw minutes contributed in scoring, including four in double-digits.
 
Wayne State took an early 4-0 lead off lay-ups from Brittany Streetman and junior Christina Green with Streetman scoring in the first three seconds of the contest after the tip-off.

Leading 12-11 at the 3:57 mark of the first stanza, the Warriors began an 11-0 run with Ashley Wilson making an old-fashion three-point play.  Shannon Wilson notched three consecutive steals in a 44-second span and scored twice on fast-break lay-ups, while feeding classmate Sara Ruhstorfer another fast-break basket to extend the Warrior's lead to 10 (21-11).  WSU led 23-13 after the first period.

The Tigers struck first in the second with a free throw from Toi Brown at the 8:38 mark.  The Warriors rallied with sophomore Payton Birchmeier draining a three and freshman Brooke Wallace scoring the next five points moving Wayne State's lead to 15 (29-14).

With seven seconds left in the half, Ashley Wilson scored in the paint to give Wayne State its largest first half margin of 20 points (44-24).

 WSU started the third stanza cold, but at the 7:25 mark Shannon Wilson made one free throw.  After head coach Carrie Lohr called a timeout with 6:43 left in the period, the Warriors went on a 19-6 run and led 67-34 after 30 minutes.  Seven of those points came from Shannon Wilson.

Wayne State tallied 10 of the first 16 points in the fourth quarter with freshman India Hawkins making two from the charity stripe.  In addition, next three baskets made were from the paint by Wallace, Ashley Wilson and redshirt sophomore Tori Bellamy.

Wayne State shot 43 percent (30-for-69) from the field, while only shooting 13 percent (2-of-15) from beyond the arc.  The Warriors shot 81.5 percent from the free throw line.  WSU grabbed 57 rebounds compared to 32 for SIU.  Wayne State tallied 19 steals and forced 25 Salem International turnovers.
 
Shannon Wilson led the Warriors with a career-high 18 points and six steals.  The sophomore also added a career-best five rebounds.

Ashley Wilson recorded 12 points with nine boards, narrowly missing her second consecutive double-double, while Wallace scored 12 points and pulled down six rebounds.

Green tallied 10 points, while both Birchmeier and Long grabbed six rebounds.

Salem International's Imari Bowers scored 15 points, while Samantha Aiken and Brown added 10.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
GLVC power Indianapolis has nine returnees from a year ago and welcomed four newcomers in three transfers and one freshman.  Head coach Constantin Popa is in his fifth season and looks to senior Princess German, junior Nicole Anderson and sophomore Sarah Costello to lead the Greyhounds this year. 

German lead UIndy in scoring a year ago with an average of 17.9 points per game.  The senior recorded 11 20-point  plus performances in 2014-15.  Anderson had a 54 percent field goal percentage last year, while Costello led the team in assists (78) and three-point percentage (42 percent). 

The Greyhounds dropped their first three games of regular season play to two GLIAC schools and one GMAC opponent.  Indianapolis fell, 60-44, to Walsh on Nov. 13 as German scored 16 points and sophomore guard Tina Negoescu added 11 points.  The following day, UIndy was upended, 80-66, by Malone.  Four Greyhounds scored in double-digits, led by German who totaled 23 points.  In Tuesday's, 47-44, loss to Cedarville, German and Anderson led the Greyhounds in scoring with 15 points apiece.  
 
THE SERIES
The Warriors will meet the Greyhounds for the sixth time on Thursday.  Indianapolis leads the all-time series, 3-2, despite the Warriors winning, 77-59, in the first game of the 2014-15 regular season (Nov. 14, 2014).  WSU and UIndy have met twice in postseason play, where Indianapolis topped Wayne State, 91-83, in the first NCAA Tournament game in WSU program history in 2003.  In 2014, the Warriors bested the Greyhounds, 63-58, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament (March 14, 2014).

2015-16 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 opened the regular season at the GLIAC/GMAC Challenge in Painesville, Ohio, where WSU took 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 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
After a 10 day break, Wayne State will host its first home contest of the season against Lawrence Tech on Nov. 29 at 3 p.m. inside the Matthaei.  The Warriors will meet the Blue Devils for the first time in program history in regular season play.