Women's Basketball | 12/3/2015 9:56:00 AM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball squad opens GLIAC play this Thursday as the Warriors travel to Northwood for a 6 p.m. match-up.  WSU is unbeaten with a 4-0 mark, while NU is 4-2.  The Warriors defeated the Timberwolves, 66-62, last season.  Two days later, Wayne State makes the trip to Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. to meet Lake Superior State (1-3) for a 1 p.m. tip, on Saturday.  WSU topped the Lakers, 71-64, in Detroit a year ago. 

The Warriors continued its undefeated streak after beating Lawrence Tech, 82-72, in the home opener on Nov. 29 inside the Matthaei.  Sophomore Shannon Wilson recorded her first collegiate double-double (21 points, 10 assists), while four other WSU players scored in double digits. 

WSU earned a 93-71 victory at GLVC power Indianapolis on Nov. 19.  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.  Shannon Wilson led WSU 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 72-23 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. 29, Wayne State was nationally ranked in the top-20 in five statistical categories, including two in the top-10.  The Warriors was seventh (out of 300 schools) in steals per game at 14.8, while Shannon Wilson was tabbed eighth with 4.0 spg. WSU was 11th in scoring margin (+25.3), 13th in  scoring offense at 83.8, 15th in field goal percentage (47.8%) and 16th in rebounding margin (+11.5). 

The Warriors lead the GLIAC in scoring, field goals made per game (32.3), total rebounds per game (46.2) and opponents field goal percentage, while ranking second in field goal attempts per game (68.0), field goal percentage, offensive rebounds per game (16.8), rebounding margin and steals per game. 

LAST  TIME OUT
Wayne State (4-0) produced a strong fourth quarter turning a three-point lead into a 10-point victory, 82-72, over visiting Lawrence Tech (5-1) on Nov. 29 at the Matthaei.

WSU scored the first six points of the game on lay-ups by sophomore Payton Birchmeier, Streetman and junior Christina Green as the Blue Devils were held scoreless for the first three minutes.
 
A jumper by Streetman off a feed from Shannon Wilson gave the Warriors their largest lead of the opening period at 12-5 just past the mid-point of the stanza.  LTU answered with an 11-2 run sparked by three three-pointers in a span of 2:08 to grab a 16-14 lead.
 
On the ensuing possession, Streetman drained a triple with Shannon Wilson earning the assist to give WSU the lead at 17-16.  Senior Kristen Long hit a jumper and the teams traded buckets in the final 90 seconds with the Warriors holding a 21-20 lead after 10 minutes.
 
Lawrence Tech scored four of the first seven points in the second quarter to knot the game at 24-24, then again at 26-26.  Two lay-ups by Green sandwiched around a jumper by sophomore Nina Foster pushed the Warrior advantage to six (32-26) with just under three minutes left before intermission.
 
The Blue Devils outscored WSU 7-4 the rest of the half to cut the Wayne State lead to three (36-33).  The Warriors shot 55 percent (17-of-31) from the field in the first half compared to 41 percent (13-of-32) for Lawrence Tech.  Both teams were 40 percent from beyond the arc (LTU 4-of-10, WSU 2-of-5).
 
The lead changed four times in the first four minutes of the second half before WSU went on an 8-0 run to turn a one-point deficit (39-38) into a seven point lead (46-39).  Green, Long, Shannon Wilson and junior Ajai Meeks all had buckets during the spurt.
 
Lawrence Tech pulled within three on three occasions in the third period (48-45, 51-48 and 53-50), the last coming on a jumper by Allison Kitchen.  The Blue Devils went on a 5-2 run to start the fourth period to tie the game at 55-55 on a lay-up by Hali Butler.  A conventional three-point play by LTU's Christina Henry knotted the game at 58-58 with 7:06 remaining.
 
The last tie of the game came at 60-60 with 6:13 left as Kitchen made a pair of foul shots.  Wayne State responded with a 12-0 run over the next 2:50 as Lawrence Tech went over five minutes (7:06 to 1:55) without a made field goal.  Shannon Wilson started and ended the stretch with three pointers, while Birchmeier, Long and Streetman all scored from the paint.  WSU's advantage was never fewer than seven over the final two minutes.

Shannon Wilson recorded her first collegiate double-double with a team-high 21 points and a game-best 10 assists to lead five Warriors in double figures.  Green totaled 12 points and seven rebounds, while Long contributed 11 points and a team-best eight rebounds.  Streetman added 16 points and three assists, with senior Ashley Wilson recording 11 points and six boards.
 
WSU shot 52 percent (34-of-65) from the field, while LTU shot 46 percent (28-of-61).  Both teams attempted 19 three pointers with LTU holding a 7-6 edge on triples.  The Warriors made 8-of-11 (73 percent) from the foul line compared to 60 percent (9-of-15) for the Blue Devils.  Wayne State recorded 21 assists to 12 turnovers with Lawrence Tech garnering 12 assists to 19 turnovers.
 
WSU led in points in the paint (52-30), points off turnovers (27-10), fast break points (10-0), while LTU led in second-chance points (18-15) and bench scoring (19-15).

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Northwood finished sixth overall in the GLIAC with a 14-8 conference mark.  The Timberwolves return 11 letterwinners from last year's 18-11 squad.   Head coach Jeff Curtis is in his 12th season and will look to senior Lauren Robak and sophomore Maddy Seeley to lead NU this year.  Robak averaged 15.4 points per game last season and connected on 87-of-227 field goals (38.3 percent), while Seeley posted 10.1 points per contest and shot 39.8 percent from three-point range (47-118).  The Timberwolves averaged 69.0 points a game, grabbed 36 boards and made 6.3 buckets from behind the arc per contest a year ago. 

NU defeated host Alaska Fairbanks, 90-78, to win the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational over Thanksgiving weekend.  The Timberwolves went 2-1 over the three-day tournament averaging  79.6 points per game and drained 22-of-55 (40.0 percent) three-pointers.  Robak and Seeley scored nearly half (117) of NU's 239 total points over the three games. 

Lake Superior State looks to rebuild after a 7-19 (3-19 GLIAC) season in 2014-15 and are led by second-year head coach Kristen Rogers, a 2006 WSU graduate.  LSSU returned five players in 2015-16 and added seven freshmen and one transfer. The Lakers will rely on junior Mackenize Edwards and seniors April LaCross and Megan Manninen.  Edwards led the team with 8.7 points per game a year ago, and shot 36.6 percent from beyond the arc.  LaCross averaged 5.4 boards per contest, while Manninen dished out a team-high 2.5 assists a game in 2014-15.  Last year, Lake Superior State averaged 59.5 points per game, while shooting 38.8 percent from the floor and making 5.7 three-pointers per game. 

The Lakers broke a three-game losing streak with a 57-46 victory over Minnesota-Duluth on Nov. 22 at the Super 8 Hotel Classic.  Sophomore Tamara Novic came off the bench to lead LSSU with 11 points, while Edwards contributed 10 points.   Novic leads the Lakers in points per game (9.5), while shooting 50 percent (16-32) from the floor.

THE SERIES
Wayne State will meet Northwood for the 52nd time in program history with WSU leading the all-time series 28-23.  In the last 10 contests the Warriors broke a five-game losing streak with a 74-60 win over the Timberwolves in coach Lohr's second season (2013-14).  Under Lohr's leadership WSU holds a 4-2 edge over NU and won, 66-62, a year ago. 

The Warriors trail Lake Superior State, 38-32,  in the all-time series and will play for the 71st time in program history.  Over the last 10 games Wayne State has won the last nine meetings, while Lohr is 7-0 against the Lakers.  WSU topped LSSU, 71-64, last season in the Matthaei. 

SHANNON ON A SCORING SPREE
Shannon Wilson has scored in double figures, draining at least one basket from beyond the arc, each of the last three games.  Wilson recorded her first collegiate double-double with 21 points  and 10 assists against Lawrence Tech in the home opener, after tallying 18 points against Salem International and 16 points at Indianapolis. 

Wilson leads the Warriors in points (61), points per game (15.3), assists (19) and steals (15). The sophomore has made 25-of-45 field goal attempts for a 55.6 percentage.  The 5-8 guard is averaging 5.5 boards a game.  Wilson ranks second in in the GLIAC, in both assists per game (4.8) and in steals per game (4.0), and 14th in points per game. 

CONSISTENT LEADERSHIP
Head coach Carrie Lohr is in her fifth season and holds an 84-37 (.694) WSU record, along with 250-143 (.650) 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.

WARRIOR ALL-ACCESS
All Wayne State home women's basketball games can be watched via Warrior All-Access for a $5.95 per game fee.  Cliff Russell and former WSU guard Paige Sickmiller (2009-13) will call the action on Dec. 13 and Dec. 20.  The other nine home contests will be available on All-Access from the Comcast feed. 

NEXT UP
WSU will host GLIAC North Division opponents Northern Michigan on Nov. 10 and Michigan Tech three days later.  The Warriors beat the Wildcats (69-57), but fell 68-55 to the Huskies on the road last season.