DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team (11-16, 6-15 GLIAC) edged Walsh (18-8, 15-6 GLIAC) 79-75 on Saturday afternoon inside the Matthaei. Wayne State completed the season sweep over the Cavaliers, snapped a six-game losing streak and ended WU's six-game winning streak in the process.
The game featured nine lead changes and nine ties but the Warriors led for the final 7:35.
HOW IT HAPPENED-
Brooke Wallace (Oberlin, Ohio / Amherst Steele) gave the Warriors a 7-4 lead with a layup at the 6:29 mark. Walsh responded and took a two-point lead (11-9) with 4:36 to play on a Brittni Clopton basket. Brooklyn Wooten extended the Cavs advantage to 16-12 with 2:51 left in the opening period. A three-point play from
Brittany Streetman (Warren, Mich. / Lincoln) with one minute left cut the deficit to 16-15.
- The run reached 7-0 with a layup by Streetman put WSU on top by three (19-16) one minute into the second quarter. The Green & Gold connected on three consecutive three-pointers, which brought the home lead to 28-21 with 6:33 to play. With just under three minutes to play before halftime, Walsh took a one-point lead (31-30) on a Clopton jumper. Wayne State ended the stanza on a 9-3 run to lead 39-34 at intermission. WSU's bench was the difference in the first half as it outscored WU's reserves 13-1.
- Walsh began the third quarter on a 7-2 run to tie the game at 41-41 with 8:32 remaining. A fast break layup by Clopton put the Cavaliers up three (45-42) and forced head coach
Carrie Lohr to take a timeout to settle her team. WSU regained the lead (46-45) on a
Kristen Long (Durand, Mich.) jumper at the 3:20 mark.
Shannon Wilson's (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Bloomfield Hills) trey kept WSU in the lead (49-47) with 1:55 left in the period. Wilson continued to have the hot hand with a layup at the 41 second mark to extend WSU's lead to 53-49.
- Following a three-point play from Clopton,
Ajai Meeks (Detroit, Mich. / Pershing) answered with a turnaround jumper to give WSU a 57-54 lead at the 8:22 mark. WU's Allison Butler tied the game at 57-57 with a long three-pointer with 7:35 remaining. A quick 9-0 run, including four points from
India Hawkins (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) gave WSU a 66-58 lead with 5:17 left to play. A
Payton Birchmeier (Corunna, Mich.) offensive rebound and put back gave WSU its largest lead of the day (69-60) at the four-minute mark. Walsh cut the WSU lead to four (62-58) with 59 seconds left to play. Long knocked down three of four free throws to extend the lead to 75-68 with 40 seconds to play. Kelsey Funderburgh connected from behind the arc to pull the Cavs within three (75-72) with 33 seconds left on the clock. Despite missing a few free throws down the stretch, WSU was able to hold on for the win, 79-75.
LEADING THE WARRIORS-
Shannon Wilson led WSU with 21 points, while Long scored 15 points, Streetman added 11 and Birchmeier contributed 10 points.
- Wallace pulled down a career-high nine rebounds.
BOX SCORE NOTES- WSU's bench finished with 25 points compared to WU's eight.
- The Warriors were aided by 16 second-chance points.
LEADING THE CAVALIERS- Clopton finished with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds.
- Wooten tallied 16 points, while Funderburgh contributed 13 points.
UP NEXT- Wayne State will conclude its season on Thursday night versus Findlay in a game that can be seen on Comcast 900. In addition, the three Warrior seniors will be honored prior to the start of the game at 1 p.m. A replay of the game can be seen on Comcast on Feb 21st at noon and Feb 24th at 8 p.m.
