DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team (7-8, 2-7 GLIAC) topped Tiffin (2-9, 1-8 GLIAC) 72-69 on Thursday night for its first win of 2016. WSU held off several rallies by TU but the Warriors led for the final 34:23. Nine Warriors scored in the contest led by 17 from
Brittany Streetman (Warren, Mich. / Lincoln) and
Ashley Wilson (Portage, Mich. / Northern).
HOW IT HAPPENED- Both teams started slowly to open the game and Tiffin led 3-2 after a triple from Allie Miller with 7:45 left in the period. The Warriors would take control of the contest with a 14-0 run including six points from Wilson.
India Hawkins (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) capped the rally with a layup to give WSU a 16-3 lead at the 1:28 mark. In the first 8:50 of the game, Tiffin went 1-of-10 from the floor and turned the ball over 10 times. The quarter ended with TU hitting its last two shots to trim the deficit to 19-10.
- The Dragons momentum continued into the second quarter as TU pulled within four (21-17) after another three-pointer from Miller, four minutes into the stanza.
Nina Foster (Lansing, Mich. / Everett) slowed the comeback with a jumper at the five-minute mark.
Tori Bellamy (Davison, Mich.) connected on a mid-range jumper to regain WSU's double-digit lead at 30-19 with less than one minute to play before halftime. Another Bellamy bucket kept that 11-point lead (32-21) in tact as the teams headed towards the locker rooms.
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Shannon Wilson (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Bloomfield Hills) opened the second half with back-to-back layups to extend WSU's lead to 36-23. Consecutive triples from Tiffin trimmed the home advantage to 36-29 to force
Carrie Lohr to take a timeout. Streetman knocked down a jumper out of the timeout to slow the Dragons rally. TU's Miller converted a three-point play to cut the deficit to six (42-36) with 3:28 to play. Streetman responded with a three-point play of her own to return the lead to nine (45-36). Five straight free throws from Tiffin cut the Warriors advantage to nine (49-40) with two minutes left in the third period. With time expiring, Miller connected for her fourth triple to bring the score to 53-45 with the fourth quarter to play.
- Tiffin continued to hang around and connected from deep to bring the Dragons within five (53-48), to start the final quarter. That was as close as TU had been since the score was 7-3. Five points from Streetman and a
Christina Green (Southfield, Mich. / Lathrup) basket put WSU up 10 at the 8:39 mark. Once again, Tiffin trailed by five (62-57) after a three-pointer from Kaylee Patton with 5:13 left in the game. The deficit was briefly at three prior to an
Ashley Wilson three-pointer. TU's Miller trimmed the lead to two (67-65) at the 2:18 mark but
Ashley Wilson answered immediately with a layup. It was a one possession game (69-67) after two free throws from the Dragons' Jessica Farr. With less than one minute to play Ali Schirmer missed a three-pointer and
Sara Ruhstorfer pulled down the important rebound.
Ashley Wilson knocked down two technical free throws with four seconds on the clock to seal the victory for WSU.
LEADING THE WARRIORS- Joining Streetman and
Ashley Wilson in double digits was
Shannon Wilson who chipped in 10 points to go with six rebounds and six assists.
LEADING THE DRAGONS- Miller led all scorers with 23 points while Bre Nauman posted a double-double with 19 points and 12 boards.
BOX SCORE NOTES- WSU's offense was powered by 40 points in the paint, 34 points off its bench and 18 points off of 22 Tiffin turnovers.
UP NEXT- The Warriors will travel to Ohio Dominican on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip-off. A replay of WSU's win over Tiffin can be seen on Comcast 900 on Jan. 16th at 4 p.m. and Jan 21st at 11 a.m.
