Women's Basketball | 2/19/2015 9:58:00 AM

STORYLINES
The 14th-ranked Wayne State women's basketball squad (20-3 overall, 16-3 GLIAC) will play its final home game of the season tonight against Malone (5:30 p.m.) where the five seniors will be recognized.  The Warriors earned their third straight 20-win season with a victory last week over Lake Erie.  One win in the final three games will secure a home playoff game, while two victories will assure the Warriors the No. 2 seed for the GLIAC Tournament.

IN THE POLLS
WSU was ranked 14th  in the Feb. 17th WBCA/USA Today National Poll, after the highest ranking in program history (fifth on Jan. 20th).  The Warriors are 25th in this week's D2SIDA poll and were ranked sixth as of last Friday (Feb. 13) in the Massey Ratings.  Wayne State was ranked fourth in the NCAA Selection Committee's first regional rankings of the year released on Feb. 18.

THE SERIES
WSU has won four of the five all-time meetings vs. Malone, including the first four.  Wayne State is 1-1 all-time at home against the Pioneers, who defeated the Warriors 61-53 in a GLIAC semifinal contest last March at the Matthaei.

Wayne State has won the last two meetings against Walsh to take a 2-1 lead in the all-time series.  The Cavaliers won the first meeting at home (61-60), but the Warriors have responded with back-to-back triumphs in Detroit.

LAST TIME OUT
For the second time this season, Wayne State had a winning streak come to an end via Ashland.  AU snapped the Warriors 13-game home court winning streak with an 80-74 win at the Matthaei last Saturday.

WSU started out sluggish and fell behind 10-5 five minutes into the contest.  Buckets by Jackie Jones and Amber McCann and a triple by Destiny Lavita-Stephens knotted the game at 12.
A 13-4 run by Ashland put the visitors ahead by nine (25-16) with just under five minutes remaining in the first half.  Wayne State was able to cut the deficit to five on a three-pointer by Ondrea Hughes, but AU's Taylor Woods drained her second triple in less than a minute to regain the eight-point advantage.  Shareta Brown made two foul shots in the final 30 seconds to pull WSU within six (34-28) at intermission.

The Warriors shot 22 percent (9-of-41) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, compared to 48 percent (10-of-21) for the Eagles.  WSU forced 13 Ashland miscues in the first half and had 17 offensive rebounds leading to 16 second-chance points to keep the game within reach.

Wayne State scored the first four points of the second half on a lay-up by Brown and one free throw each from Lavita-Stephens and Jones.  Ashland answered with five consecutive points including another three-pointer from Woods who finished the contest with a game-high 22 points including five triples before fouling out.  After WSU was again within two (41-39) on a Brown bucket, the Eagles scored seven straight points with two baskets by Andi Daugherty sandwiched around a Woods three pointer.

The Eagles increased their margin to 12 (58-46) with 9:03 remaining on a pair of Woods foul shots, but the Warriors kept chipping away and were down two (71-69) with 1:39 left after a triple by Brittany Streetman.  AU's Kelsey Peare sank two free throws and after a WSU miss, Ashland's Suzy Wollenhaupt split a pair from the charity stripe.  Lavita-Stephens lay-up cut the deficit to three (74-71) before Daugherty made the second in a double-bonus situation.  An offensive foul call on Lavita-Stephens gave Ashland the ball and Peare made two free throws to make it a 77-71 game.

Brown led the Warriors with her 19th double-double of the season on 20 points and 11 rebounds.  Hughes added 13 points off the bench, while Lavita-Stephens chipped in 11 points.  WSU shot 32 percent for the game (26-of-81), but just 23 percent (5-of-22) from beyond the arc.  Wayne State did have a 47-41 edge in rebounding.

Besides Woods' 22 points, Daugherty notched a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds with both Wollenhaupt and Peare scoring 11 points for an Eagle squad that had 23 turnovers.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Malone has last four straight since beginning the month with a win over cross-town rival Walsh.  The Pioneers have lost three seniors to injury this year subsequently the top three active scorers are all underclassmen.  Sophomore guard Rachel Goddard leads MU in scoring (11.8) and steals (22), while tied-for-first in three-pointers made (31).  Even though she has missed the last 12 games, Selana Reale still leads the squad in assists (47).  Lindsy Snider, who has missed the last seven contests, leads the Pioneers in rebounding (122 boards).  Malone is 14th in the GLIAC in offense averaging 59.9 points per game.

The Cavaliers have won three straight since a three-game losing skein.  Junior guard Kelsey Funderburgh leads the team in scoring (15.3 ppg) and three-pointers made (61), while ranking second in blocks (14) and steals (39).  Sophomore guard Brooklyn Wooten is second in scoring (11.0 ppg), but leads WU in assists (78).  Freshman center Brittni Clopton is first in both rebounding (6.5 rpg) and blocks (26), while ranking third in scoring (9.5 ppg).  Sophomore guard Jalynn Graham leads in steals (53) and is second in both rebounds (5.4 rpg) and assists (64).

NATIONAL STATISTICS
In the Feb. 15th NCAA stats report, Wayne State was fourth in all of Division II in team field goal percentage (47.4%).  The Warriors are sixth in scoring offense (80.2 ppg), 10th in rebounding margin (+8.5), 11th in scoring margin (+16.2) and 18th in winning percentage (87.0).  WSU is 32nd in assist/turnover ratio (+1.05) and 40th in three-point field goal percentage (35.8).

In terms of individual national statistics, Shareta Brown leads the nation in total rebounds per contest (14.1) and offensive rebounds per game (6.0), while also tied-for-first nationally in double-doubles (19).  She is second in field goal percentage (63.7) and triple-doubles (1), while ranking fourth in scoring (21.5 ppg) and ninth in defensive rebounds per game (8.0).

In terms of active Division II players, Brown is first in career points (2,426), scoring average (20.0 ppg), rebounds (1,282), field goals made (841), free throws made (704) and attempted (946) as well as double-doubles (66).  Her free throws made and attempted totals plus rebounding mark are first among all active NCAA players (Divisions I, II and III combined), while her double-doubles total leads all current Division I and Division II players.  She is tied-for-first among current Division II players in games played (121 - 68 with Detroit and 53 at WSU).  Brown ranks third in field goal percentage (60.1%), sixth in rebounding average (10.6 rpg) and eighth in field goals attempted (1,400).  Jackie Jones is ninth in total assists (430) and 12th in assists average (3.81).

Brown has 266 career assists, 84 blocked shots and 191 steals, while shooting 35.1 percent (40-of-114) from beyond the arc and 74.4 percent from the charity stripe.

NEXT UP
WSU will conclude the regular-season at Findlay on Feb. 26 before playing a quarterfinal GLIAC Tournament game on March 4th.

COMCAST/XFINITY/ALL-ACCESS
The Malone doubleheader will be broadcast live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN900.  Every home game will have a video webcast through WSUAthletics.com.

ALL-NEW MATTHAEI
The Matthaei has received a face lift over the course of the past decade. In January of 2014, a new scoreboard and video board were installed which features live action and replays. During the off-season, the Warriors added a new parquet floor and the sub-floor (circa 1965) was replaced. And finally a new basketball office expansion was completed in the fall on the northwest corner of the Matthaei. The new expansion includes six coaches offices, a theater-style film room and a reception area.