Women's Basketball | 12/6/2016 12:18:00 PM

STORYLINES
Wayne State, winners of four straight games, hits the road this week for a pair of games in Ohio against GLIAC South Division rivals.  The Warriors travel to Tiffin on Thursday to face the Dragons, then venture to Ashland on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip-off against the second-ranked Eagles.  WSU finished its five-game home stand with a 4-1 mark, winning the last two contests by a combined three points.

THE SERIES
Wayne State has a 10-8 lead in the all-time series against Tiffin.  The Dragons ended WSU's five-game series winning streak with a 64-58 victory in Tiffin, Ohio, last February.  The Warriors are 5-4 at the Gillmor Center.

WSU trails 15-35 in the all-time series vs. Ashland, which began in 1983.  The Warriors are 6-19 all-time at Kates Gymnasium.  The Eagles have won the last four meetings and nine of the last 10 in the series.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Tiffin lost both games on the road last week (86-67 at Northwood and 72-59 at Lake Superior State) to begin GLIAC play.  The Dragons had two in-region wins (70-63 over Cedarville and 65-41 at Salem International) after opening the year with a pair of setbacks.  Senior center Bre Nauman leads the squad in scoring (12.0 ppg), rebounding (5.7 rpg) and blocks (3), while sophomore guard Allie Miller is second in scoring (11.3 ppg) and rebounding (4.7 rpg).  Senior guard Deidre McKay has team-high totals of 23 assists and 10 steals.

The second-ranked Ashland Eagles have won all eight regular-season games since a nine-point (88-79) exhibition setback at Ohio State by an average of 41 points.  Junior forward Laina Snyder leads four AU players who average in double figures at 16.6 ppg.  Snyder is also first on the team in rebounding (11.1 rpg) and steals (31) and is tied with freshman forward Sara Loomis for the team lead with 12 blocks.  Both freshman guard Renee Stimpert and senior guard Kelsey Peare have recorded out 30 assists with Peare making a team-best 16 triples.  No one on AU's roster averages 24 minutes per game.

IN THE POLLS
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announced its women's basketball preseason poll and Wayne State was predicted to finish sixth in the GLIAC North Division with 17 points.  Grand Valley State was selected as the top team in the North Division, while Ashland was named the preseason favorite in the South Division.

WILSON LEADING SCORING PARADE
Junior Shannon Wilson, who was last year's leading scorer, has picked up this year where she left off last season.  She has led WSU in scoring three times this year, notching double figure totals in four of the five games she has played (and nine points in the other game).  Dating back to last season, Wilson has scored in double figures in seven of eight contests.  She has made a three-pointer in 10 of her last 11 contests.

COMCAST/XFINITY
Every women's basketball home game beginning in 2017 will be aired live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN 900.  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.  All 14 home contests during the 2016-17 season will be available on All-Access.