DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball squad (5-10 overall, 2-6 GLIAC) suffered yet another tough setback falling 66-64 to the visiting Michigan Tech Huskies (10-3 overall, 6-2 GLIAC) Thursday evening at the Matthaei.  It was WSU's fifth loss by five points or less (a combined 14 point deficit in those five contests), plus the Warriors had another defeat in overtime.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After MTU scored on its second possession, Wayne State rattled off 10 of the next 12 points for a 10-4 lead with just over 3:30 remaining in the opening stanza.  Senior Christina Green (Southfield, Mich. / Lathrup) and freshman Nastassja Chambers (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Arbor Prep) each had four points during the spurt.  However, the Warriors would miss their final five field goal attempts of the quarter and trailed 13-10 after 10 minutes.

Sophomore India Hawkins (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) drained a triple on the first possession of the second quarter off a feed from sophomore Tyesha Hood (Detroit, Mich. / Mumford) to knot the game at 13-13.  There would be four more ties in the stanza with each team once holding a three-point margin (WSU 18-15, MTU 23-20).  MTU's Brenna Heise scored on a jumper just before intermission for a 25-25 deadlock at halftime.

There were three lead changes in the third period but WSU let a 35-34 lead slip away as Michigan Tech finished the quarter on a 12-6 run for a 46-41 advantage heading into the fourth stanza.

After the Huskies lead was six (50-44), its largest of the game, with 8:01 remaining, Wayne State answered with back-to-back triples by sophomore Jessica Murphy (Oxford, Mich.) and Hawkins at the 5:15 mark to even the score at 50-50.  There were five more ties over the next 4:45 with the final one coming at 64-64 as junior Shannon Wilson (W. Bloomfield, Mich. / Bloomfield Hills) hit an off-balance jumper with 28.0 seconds left and converted the old-fashioned three-point play with a free throw.  Michigan Tech's Morgan Anderson, the second-leading scorer in the GLIAC, entering the contest, hit a driving lay-up with 4.0 seconds left.  WSU used a timeout to advance the ball but Chambers three-pointer just before the buzzer was off the mark.

TEAM STATS

Wayne State shot 44 percent (24-of-55) from the floor compared to 45 percent for MTU on 28-of-62.  WSU was 5-of-15 (33 percent) from beyond the arc, while the Huskies connected on 7-of-19 long-range shots for 37 percent.  The Warriors were an outstanding 85 percent (11-of-13) from the charity stripe, with Michigan Tech shooting just 43 percent (3-of-7) from the foul line.  MTU had a 40-29 edge on the boards but were only able to convert 16 offensive rebounds in nine second-chance points.  Wayne State led in points in the paint (30-18) and points off turnovers (12-7) as the teams combined for just 19 miscues (10 by MTU and nine by WSU).

LEADING THE WARRIORS

Green tallied a team-high 14 points, while Wilson and Hawkins each contributed 13 points.  Chambers had 12 points with Murphy grabbing a game-high nine rebounds.

LEADING THE OPPOSITION

Heise scored a game-best 20 points on 10-of-13 from the floor.  Lindsay Winter nearly had a double-double with 11 points and a team-best eight rebounds off the MTU bench.  Anderson chipped in with 13 points and four assists, while Kelli Guy added 11 points.

UP NEXT

Wayne State will host Northern Michigan in a 1 p.m. contest on Saturday at the Matthaei.  The game will be televised live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast/CN 900 with Sean Baligian, Joe Abramson and Tony Ortiz calling the action.