DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team (7-16 overall, 4-12 GLIAC) suffered another tough setback on Saturday afternoon falling 71-67 to the visiting Ferris State Bulldogs (5-17 overall, 4-12 GLIAC).    The loss was WSU's seventh this year by five points or less.

HOW IT HAPPENED

It was a back-and-forth contest with 14 lead changes, with seven of them in the first quarter alone.

WSU led 18-15 after the first period due in large part to being 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.  Juniors Sara Ruhstorfer (Grand Blanc, Mich. / Flint Powers Catholic) and Shannon Wilson (W. Bloomfield, Mich. / Bloomfield Hills) were each 1-for-1 from three-point range, while sophomore Jessica Murphy (Oxford, Mich.) made both of her triple tries.  WSU had the largest lead of the game (7 points at 18-11) after Wilson's three pointer with 2:54 left in the stanza.

When senior Christina Green (Southfield, Mich. / Lathrup) converted a conventional three-point play with 8:39 remaining before halftime ended a scoreless drought of 4:15 for the Warriors and put Wayne State in front 21-19.  Ferris State had a 17-14 scoring edge in the second quarter with 12 points coming in the paint to knot the game at 32 at intermission.

The Bulldogs scored on the opening possession of the second half and maintained the lead for the next 8:55 until freshman Nastassja Chambers (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Arbor Prep) had an old-fashioned three-point play with 44.0 seconds remaining tied the game at 47.  After a steal by Chambers, one of her game-high five steals, Wilson made a jumper with 13 seconds remaining giving the Warriors a 49-47 lead after 30 minutes.

Ferris State tallied the first five points of the fourth period for a 52-49 advantage.  Over the next two minutes, Chambers had six points to FSU's four to cut the WSU deficit to one (56-55).  Following back-to-back buckets by the Bulldogs for a 60-55 lead, Wayne State went on an 8-0 run over the next 90 seconds for a 63-60 Warrior lead.  Chambers started the run with a fast-break lay-up while Murphy connected on a fast-break triple from the left wing to tie the game at 60-60, while Wilson drained a shot from beyond the arc from the right wing.  Ferris State answered with six consecutive points.  Wilson split a pair from the charity stripe before FSU's Leah Humes made a pair from the charity stripe for a four-point Bulldog lead with 35.4 seconds remaining.

After WSU had the three point lead (63-60), the Warriors went 1-of-5 from three-point range, 0-1 from inside the arc and 1-of-2 from the foul line in scoring four points in the final 2:30.

TEAM STATS

Wayne State shot 39 percent (25-of-65) from the floor compared to 44 percent (24-of-54) for FSU.  WSU made 10 triples for the fourth time this season on 29 attempts (35 percent), while the Bulldogs were 2-of-9 922 percent) from beyond the arc.  The Warriors were 7-of-9 (78 percent) from the foul line, with Ferris State making 21-of-27 (78 percent).  The Bulldogs controlled the boards with a 49-24 edge in rebounds and the paint with a 38-18 advantage.

LEADING THE WARRIORS

Chambers had a team high 19 points, while Wilson contributed 17 points, including four triples.  Green grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.

LEADING THE BULLDOGS

Both Rachel McInerney and Riley Blair notched double-doubles.  McInerney had 21 points and a game-high 17 rebounds, while Blair tallied a game-high 23 points along with 10 rebounds.

UP NEXT

Wayne State begins a four-game road swing on Thursday with a 5:30 p.m. contest at Michigan Tech.