DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team (9-10, 4-9 GLIAC) began a stretch of three games in five days by edging Malone (5-13, 2-11 GLIAC) 71-63 on Thursday. The Warriors led for final 39:09 of the contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED- Malone led 7-2 three minutes into the opening quarter. MU's Naomi Grandison secured her own rebound and converted the second-chance basket to keep the Pioneers ahead 12-9 at the four-minute mark.
Shannon Wilson (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Bloomfield Hills) cut the visitors' lead to one (13-12) at the two-minute mark.
India Hawkins (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) entered the game with one minute left to play in the stanza and provided an instant spark by knocking down back-to-back triples to give WSU its first lead, 18-15, after the first 10 minutes.
- Hawkins continued to have the hot hand and matched her career-high with 10 points after two layups, extending the home lead to 23-15 at the 7:11 mark. After two Malone free throws brought the deficit to five, a
Payton Birchmeier (Corunna, Mich.) bucket kept WSU's lead at seven with three minutes left before halftime. MU answered with five straight points from Alahna Singleton to pull MU within two points (32-30) with 1:27 remaining. At halftime, WSU held onto a four-point advantage (36-30) after an
Ajai Meeks (Detroit, Mich. / Pershing) jumper to beat the buzzer.
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Ashley Wilson (Portage, Mich. / Northern) gave WSU a 39-30 lead with a trey to start the third quarter. Wilson staked WSU to a 10-point lead with a layup and
Brittany Streetman (Warren, Mich. / Lincoln) followed with a transition runner, giving the Warriors their largest lead of the night, 45-33. A 10-0 Malone run trimmed WSU's lead to two (45-43) at the 3:18 mark. However, a three-point play from
Shannon Wilson on the ensuing possession put WSU on top 48-43. A Birchmeier rebound and put back to beat the buzzer gave the Green & Gold a 52-45 lead to end the third period.
- Both teams were held scoreless for the first 3:15 of the fourth quarter until a Rachel Goddard layup cut the deficit to five (52-47). Goddard continued to lead the comeback attempt with a basket at the 5:36 mark, pulling MU within three (54-51). Meeks ran the court and was rewarded with an easy fast break layup to extend WSU's lead to 58-51 with 4:31 left to play. Goddard kept the Pioneers close, 58-55, by connecting from behind the arc at the 2:30 mark.
Shannon Wilson drove to the basket and gave WSU a 62-57 lead before two free throws from Bri Libertore returned the deficit to three with 47 seconds to play. Hawkins split a pair of free throws but
Ashley Wilson hauled down the clutch offensive rebound and connected on both of her freebies, extending the lead to 65-59 at the 28 second mark. WSU went 9-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final 35 seconds to seal the 71-63 victory.
LEADING THE WARRIORS- Hawkins led four Warriors in double digits with a career-high 15 points off the bench. Also helping the offense were Streetman with 13 points,
Ashley Wilson with 12 points, while
Shannon Wilson chipped in 11.
Ashley Wilson notched her third double-double of the season with a game-high 12 rebounds.
LEADING THE PIONEERS- Goddard led all scorers with 20 points, while Singleton scored 16 points.
- Mackenzie Storlie grabbed a team-high eight boards.
BOX SCORE NOTES- The Warriors controlled the tempo all night and were able to score 14 fast break points.
- The game featured just one tie and one lead change.
UP NEXT- Wayne State will play at Walsh on Saturday at 1 p.m. A replay of the victory over Malone can be seen on Comcast 900 on Jan. 31st at noon and on Feb. 3rd.
