Women's Basketball | 1/10/2017 2:53:00 PM

STORYLINES
Wayne State finished play vs. GLIAC South Division foes with a 2-5 record.  The final 14 regular-season games will be against the seven GLIAC North Division rivals starting with Thursday's 5:30 p.m. match-up against Michigan Tech and Saturday's 1 p.m. contest vs. Northern Michigan.  Both games will be televised live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN 900 with Sean Baligian, Joe Abramson and Tony Ortiz calling the action.

THE SERIES
Wayne State trails 18-38 in the all-time series against the Huskies.  The Warriors are 3-2 in the last five meetings, despite MTU winning the last two head-to-head contests (68-55 in Houghton on Dec. 13, 2014, and 71-65 at the Matthaei on Dec. 13, 2015).  WSU is 11-17 all-time in Detroit vs. Michigan Tech with wins in two of the last three meetings.

The Warriors are 23-29 all-time versus Northern Michigan, including victories in five of the last six meetings.  WSU has won the last four meetings at the Matthaei and six of the last seven.  In the series history, Wayne State has a 13-11 home mark vs. the Wildcats.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Michigan Tech rebounded from having its four-game winning streak snapped at Ashland on Jan. 5, with a convincing 80-46 triumph at Tiffin on Jan. 7.  Morgan Anderson is one of the top scorers in the league at 18.4 points per game.  She is making 44 percent (35-of-80) of her triple tries and is shooting 80 percent (28-of-35) from the charity stripe.  Brenna Heise (12.1 ppg) and Kelli Guy (11.8 ppg) are both averaging in double figures.  Heise has team-high totals of 57 rebounds and 16 steals, while Anderson leads with 40 assists.

Northern Michigan enters Thursday's game at Saginaw Valley State after having its four-game winning streak end at Ashland on Jan. 7.  Bre Gaspervich (12.2 ppg) and Darby Youngstrom (11.9) are leading the Wildcats in scoring.  Gaspervich has made a team-high 24 triples and also leads the squad with 23 steals.  Youngstrom had a team-best 91 rebounds, with Chloe Tompkins having a team-high 48 assists.

LAST WEEK'S RECAP
Wayne State concluded GLIAC South Division play with a pair of road losses at Walsh (81-72 OT) and Findlay (76-67).

The setback to the Cavaliers was WSU's second overtime loss in league play this year, both on the road.
 
After falling behind 5-0, the Warriors responded with a 11-0 run starting with a lay-up by Nastassja Chambers and ending with a Chambers jumper.  In between, India Hawkins drained a three before Christina Green and Payton Birchmeier had back-to-back buckets in a 35-second span.
 
Another three pointer by Hawkins was followed by five consecutive points by the hosts to cut the Warrior advantage to 14-11 after the first quarter.
 
A Hawkins lay-up tied the contest at 19-19, but the Cavaliers ended the first half by scoring 13 of the final 20 points for a 32-26 advantage at intermission.
 
Walsh held a 51-50 lead after 30 minutes.  A Hawkins triple, her fourth of the contest and a lay-up by Shannon Wilson pushed the Warriors ahead 55-51.  Wilson made a pair of foul shots to end a 4-0 spurt by Walsh, and Hawkins made it a four-point margin (59-55) with a lay-up.
 
Hawkins hit a baseline three pointer with just over 5:30 remaining in regulation, but the Warriors would not make another field goal until overtime.  WSU did make 5-of-6 free throws, but the Cavaliers hit two triples in the final 1:50 sandwiched around a jumper, with the final three points coming on a step-back long-range jumper by Brooklyn Wooten with 5.6 seconds left to tie the game at 67-67.
 
In overtime, Chambers made WSU's lone field goal to tie the game at 69-69, but the Warriors would go 0-for-4 from the floor with a turnover in the final four minutes of the extra session.  Meanwhile, Walsh would make 3-of-4 shots from the floor and 6-of-8 from the foul line the rest of the way.
 
Hawkins tallied a career-high 19 points to lead four Warriors in double figures.  Green chipped in with 14 points, while Wilson contributed 13 points.

Wayne State rallied in the fourth quarter but it was not enough in falling 76-67 at the University of Findlay on Jan. 7.
 
The Warriors began strong opening a 13-6 advantage just past the mid-point of the first quarter as the WSU defense limited the Oilers to just one field goal.  Sara Ruhstorfer and Birchmeier each connected from long distance during the streak.
 
Over the final 14:15 of the first half, UF had a 37-21 scoring margin which included a 12-5 run to end the first period and a 12-4 spurt over the final five minutes of the second stanza.
 
The Oilers continued the offensive outburst by scoring the first 12 points after intermission to open a 55-34 lead with 5:50 left in the third quarter.
 
After making just two field goals in the last six minutes of the second period, the Warriors first bucket of the second half came on a triple by Chambers with 5:31 remaining in the quarter.
 WSU did not surrender despite trailing 65-46 after three periods and held Findlay without a point for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.
 
The Oilers led by 18 (71-53) after a triple by Lynsey Englebrecht with 3:55 remaining, but the Warriors responded with a 14-3 run including back-to-back three pointers by Wilson and Jessica Murphy but that would cap the scoring for WSU.
 
Chambers tallied a team-high 20 points, with Wilson adding 16 off the bench.  Green (grabbed a team-best five boards, while Chambers had a team-high four assists.  Tyesha Hood (contributed three blocks in nine minutes.

PLAYING THE BEST -- STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
When considering games through Jan. 5, Wayne State had played the seventh toughest schedule out of 316 Division II teams with an opponent percentage of .659.  WSU's remaining opponents have a .532 winning percentage with a projected .605 opponents winning percentage, which would rank sixth nationally.

CHAMBERS CONTRIBUTING ALL-AROUND THE COURT
Freshman Nastassja Chambers has made an impact in her first 14 collegiate contests.  She is leading the squad in points (205), free throw percentage (.797 / 51-of-64), assists (32), steals (29) and minutes played per game (30.5 per game).  Chambers also leads the team in field goals made (74) and free throws made (51).

WILSON LEADING THE 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 four times this year, notching double figure totals in 10 of the 12 games she has played (and nine points in one other game).  Dating back to last season, Wilson has scored in double figures in 13 of 15 contests.  She has made a three-pointer in 24 of her last 28 contests.  In addition, Wilson was selected the GLIAC North Division Player of the Week for her performance in the non-conference victory over Cedarville on Dec. 30.

WILLIAMS MAKING MOST OF HER OPPORTUNITY
After playing just 68 minutes last year at IUPUI, sophomore Ja'Nae Williams has started 11 times this season and is averaging over 22 minutes a contest.  She has scored in double figures four times with another two games of nine points each.  Williams has had at least one assist in every game but two, including a career-best three helpers at Lewis.

HAWKINS HEATING UP FROM LONG DISTANCE
Sophomore India Hawkins made 16 triples as a freshman and shot 30.8 percent from beyond the arc.  She has already made 21 three-pointers this season and is shooting 42.9 percent from long-range.  After beginning the year 9-of-27 from three-point range, Hawkins has connected on 12-of-22 over the last five games.

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.

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, Joe Abramson and Tony Ortiz will call the action.