Women's Basketball | 11/25/2015 3:15:00 PM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team (3-0) has its home opener this Sunday as Lawrence Tech visits the Matthaei for a 3 p.m. match-up featuring a pair of unbeaten squads as WSU is 3-0 and LTU is 5-0.  The Warriors and Blue Devils have met each of the last two years, both in exhibition contests.

WSU earned a 93-71 victory at GLVC power Indianapolis on Nov. 19 improving its record to 3-0.  Four Warriors scored in double figures led by senior Brittany Streetman with 20 points, which matched her career-high.  Previously, WSU went 2-0 at the two-day GLIAC/GMAC Challenge, hosted by Lake Erie College on Nov. 14-15.  Wayne State topped Ohio Valley, 76-45, on Nov. 14 as redshirt senior Ashley Wilson recorded her first career WSU double-double with 14 points and 11 boards.  The Warriors concluded the tournament with an 84-46 victory over Salem International on Nov. 15.  Sophomore Shannon Wilson led WSU with career highs in points (18), steals (6) and rebounds (5).

IN THE POLLS
Wayne State received 23 points in the Nov. 24 WBCA Top 25 poll.  The Warriors have won a school-record tying 23 contests each of the last two seasons and are 71-23 over the last three-plus seasons.

The GLIAC released its preseason coaches poll on Oct. 28 and Wayne State was tabbed to finish third in the South Division.  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.

IN THE RANKS
As of Nov. 23, Wayne State was nationally ranked in the top-20 in four statistical categories.  The Warriors are 10th (out of 300 schools) in  scoring margin (+30.3).  WSU was sixth in rebounding margin (+15.7), seventh in steals per game at 15.0, 14th in scoring offense at 84.3, 19th in field goal percentage defense (31.5%), 22nd in defensive rebounds per game (32.0) and 28th in field goal percentage (46.6%).

The Warriors lead the GLIAC in scoring, field goals made per game (31.7), defensive rebounds per game, total rebounds per game 949.3) and opponents field goal percentage, while ranking second in free throws attempted per game (23.7), offensive rebounds per game (17.3), rebounding margin, steals per game and scoring defense (54.0 points per game).

LAST  TIME OUT
Wayne State improved to 3-0 on the young season with a 93-71 triumph at the University of Indianapolis (0-4) on Nov. 19.  WSU has won the last three meetings against the Greyhounds, but this was the first win in four tries at UIndy (2003-NCAA, 2005 and 2013).
 
After UIndy knotted the game at two, the Warriors went on a 5-0 run with Streetman scoring a pair of buckets.

The Greyhounds pulled within two (7-5), but WSU maintained its advantage and held a 17-15 lead after the first quarter.  Indianapolis was within one on three occasions (12-11, 14-13 and 16-15) in the opening period, but was never able to even the score.

In the first four-and-a-half minutes of the second stanza, Wayne State had an 8-7 edge in scoring before going on an 18-11 spurt to end the first half with a 10-point margin (43-33).  Both times the Greyhounds cut their deficit to three, WSU answered with a three-point play – first a conventional one by junior Christina Green followed by a triple from senior Kristen Long.

Shannon Wilson totaled eight points in the second period to lead all scorers.

WSU started the second half outscoring the hosts 15-10 in the first four-and-a-half minutes, then finished the stanza on a 12-9 run for a 70-52 lead after 30 minutes.

Wayne State continued its lead by posting a 23-point fourth quarter, while limiting UIndy to 19 points over the final 10 minutes.
 
Nine of the 10 Warriors that played in the game scored at least four points.

Streetman led four Wayne State players in double figures with 20 points, while Shannon Wilson tallied 18 points.  Both Green and Long contributed 12 points.  Streetman's 20-point effort equaled a career-high set against Ferris State on Feb. 21, 2013.
Wilson grabbed a game-high nine rebounds as the Warriors had a 36-24 edge on the glass.  She also led WSU with four assists as Wayne State totaled 15 assists to 13 turnovers.

WSU shot 55 percent (35-of-64) from the floor while holding the Greyhounds to 46 percent (25-of-54).  Wayne State shot 50 percent (8-of-16) from beyond the arc with four different players connecting from long range.  UIndy was 6-of-20 for 30 percent from three-point range.

Both teams made 15 free throws in the contest with WSU having 25 attempts compared to 17 for Indianapolis.

WSU totaled 15 assists with Shannon Wilson recording a team-high four helpers.  The Warriors garnered 14 steals in the contest with both Streetman and Shannon Wilson notching five steals apiece.

Wayne State had a 33-4 advantage in points off turnovers, along with a 17-11 edge in second-chance points.  The 93 points were the most by a WSU squad in a road contest since a 94-74 triumph at Saginaw Valley State on Jan. 18, 2014.
Princess German led the hosts with a game-high 26 points to pace three Greyhounds in double figures.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Lawrence Tech has eight returnees for 2015-16 and added six newcomers (five freshmen and one transfer).  LTU finished the 2014-15 season with a 12-15 overall record along with a 10-13 conference (WHAC) mark.  Head coach Mary Pinkowski is in her fourth season and looks to junior Allison Kitchen and senior Hali Butler to lead the Blue Devils this year.  Kitchen led the team in scoring at 14.6 points per contest a year ago, while Butler tallied an average of 10.4 points and 7.8 rebounds last season.

Lawrence Tech enters Thanksgiving break 5-0 overall with a 4-0 league mark following a 67-57 win over Cornerstone on Nov. 24.  The 5-0 start is the best in program history.  Kitchen leads LTU in scoring at 21.6 points per game and is shooting 69 percent (42-of-61) from the floor.
 
THE SERIES
The Warriors will play the Blue Devils for the first time in regular season play.  WSU has hosted LTU the last two seasons in exhibition contests.  Wayne State defeated Lawrence Tech, 94-52, last year (Nov. 14, 2014) and won, 76-39, during the 2013-14 season (Nov. 9, 2013).  

DYNAMIC DUO
Shannon Wilson and Streetman have posted an impressive start to the 2015-16 season.  Wilson scored a career-high 18 points in each of the last two contests, while Streetman tied a career-high with 20 points at Indianapolis.

Shannon Wilson leads the Warriors in points (42), points per game (14.0) and assists (7), and is tied with Streetman for team-high in steals with 11.  The sophomore has made 17-of- 33 field goal attempts for a 51.5 percentage.  The 5-8 guard is averaging 6.3 boards a game.

Streetman is shooting 50 percent both from the field (14-of-28) and beyond the arc (3-for-6). The senior co-captain is averaging 12.0 points and 3.7 steals per game.

CONSISTENT LEADERSHIP
Head coach Carrie Lohr is in her fifth season and holds an 83-37 (.691) WSU record, along with 249-143 (.635) career mark. Lohr is the second coach to lead the Warriors to the NCAA Tournament, but the first coach to have its squad earn an NCAA Tournament bid three straight seasons, including a trip to the Midwest Regional Championship game in 2013 and 2014.

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
WSU will begin GLIAC competition with a trip to Northwood on Dec. 3 and Lake Superior State two days later.  The Warriors topped the Timberwolves (66-62) and the Lakers (71-64) last season at the Matthaei.