DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team (12-16, 7-15 GLIAC) concluded its 2015-16 season on Thursday night with a 90-76 win over Findlay (15-13, 10-12 GLIAC).
The senior class of
Brittany Streetman (Warren, Mich. / Lincoln),
Kristen Long (Durand, Mich.) and
Ashley Wilson (Portage, Mich. / Northern) were honored before the game and earned their 80th career victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED-
Shannon Wilson (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Bloomfield Hills) gave WSU a 7-4 lead with a three-pointer at the 8:15 mark. A turnaround jumper from
Ashley Wilson extended the Warriors lead to 14-8 with 5:42 to play in the opening quarter. A fast break layup by
Payton Birchmeier (Corunna, Mich.) kept the home side staked to a three-point lead. The Oilers tied the game at 21-21 with two free throws at the 2:25 mark. Birchmeier connected from behind the arc, giving WSU a 26-22 advantage. After the first 10 minutes, the Warriors led 26-24.
- Margaret Wuebker gave UF a 34-30 lead at the six-minute mark of the second quarter. A three-point play from Shannon Zajec pushed the Oilers lead to 40-35 at the 2:54 mark.
Sara Ruhstorfer (Grand Blanc, Mich. / Flint Powers Catholic) connected on her first triple of the season to cut the Wayne State deficit to two (40-38) with 2:27 to play before halftime. Lynsey Englebrecht's trey at the 38 second mark put UF up 45-40. At halftime, the Oilers held onto a 45-42 lead. Findlay's bench outscored WSU's 23-13 in the opening 20 minutes.
- Wuebker added to visitors lead (48-42) with an old-fashioned three-point play at the nine-minute mark of the third quarter. Karli Bonar kept the run going with a triple to give Findlay a 51- 42 advantage. Streetman responded with a three-pointer of her own to keep WSU within striking distance at 51-45. Birchmeier brought WSU within two (53-51) with a three from the top of the key with five minutes to play in the period.
Shannon Wilson tied the game at 53-53 after two free throws at the four-minute mark.
Ajai Meeks (Detroit, Mich. / Pershing) grabbed an offensive rebound and converted a three-point play with the put back and a free throw to give WSU its first lead (56-55) since the 7:59 mark of the second quarter. A triple from
India Hawkins (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) put Wayne State back on top, 59-57, with two minutes to play in the quarter. Entering the fourth quarter, Findlay led by two, 61-59.
- A nice pass from
Shannon Wilson to
Ashley Wilson tied the game at 63-63 and
Shannon Wilson followed with a fast break layup to give the Warriors a 65-63 lead with eight minutes left to play. The game was tied at 69-69 after a trey from Englebrecht at the 6:55 mark. A Streetman three-pointer after a
Shannon Wilson layup put WSU up 74-69 with six minutes to play.
Brooke Wallace (Oberlin, Ohio / Amherst Steele) cleaned up a missed shot with a put back and back-to-back fast break layups from
Shannon Wilson capped a 15-3 run to give the Warriors an 82-69 lead at the 3:23 mark. WSU would cruise to a 90-76 victory by outscoring UF 31-15 in the final period.
LEADING THE WARRIORS- Streetman led WSU with 23 points, including four three-pointers. Three other Warriors scored in double-digits led by 17 points from Birchmeier who also grabbed nine boards.
Shannon Wilson finished with 15 points and
Ashley Wilson tallied 10.
BOX SCORE NOTES- The two benches combined for 73 of the 166 total points.
- Findlay turned the ball over 18 times, leading to 23 WSU points.
- The Warriors committed a season-low eight turnovers.
LEADING THE OILERS- Wuebker posted a game-high 24 points and collected eight rebounds.
SENIOR NIGHT- Streetman, Long and Wilson were recognized prior to tip-off in their final game wearing the Green & Gold. On Jan. 3, Streetman and Long became just the eighth set of teammates in school history to reach the 100-game played plateau in the same season. WSU has played 119 games over the last four seasons compiling an 80-39 record. Streetman and Long both played in every game as freshmen, their junior season and this year. They are the winningest duo in program history and are 1-2 in career games played with 118 and 117, respectively.
Ashley Wilson played in 58 games in her two playing seasons at WSU and totaled 426 points.
