Women's Basketball | 2/7/2017 4:51:00 PM

STORYLINES
Wayne State will play its next four games on the road starting with this Thursday's contest at Michigan Tech (5:30 p.m.) followed by Saturday's game at Northern Michigan (11 a.m.).  The Warriors are 2-9 in 2017 and will conclude the season at home on Feb. 23 against Saginaw Valley State.

THE SERIES
Wayne State trails 18-39 in the all-time series against the Huskies.  The Warriors are 3-3 in the last six meetings, despite MTU winning the last three head-to-head contests (68-55 in Houghton on Dec. 13, 2014, 71-65 at the Matthaei on Dec. 13, 2015, and 66-64 in Detroit last month).  WSU is 7-21 all-time in Houghton vs. Michigan Tech, including just one win in the last nine outings (90-82 Warriors on Feb. 13, 2014).

The Warriors are 24-29 all-time versus Northern Michigan, including victories in six of the last seven meetings.  WSU has won two of the last three meetings in Marquette and has a 10-16 mark all-time at NMU.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Michigan Tech went 1-2 last week but the Huskies have won six straight at home.  Morgan Anderson is one of the top scorers in the league at 15.9 points per game.  She is making 41 percent (49-of-121) of her triple tries and is shooting 83 percent (43-of-52) from the charity stripe.  Brenna Heise (12.2 ppg), Kelli Guy (10.4 ppg) and Elizabeth Kelliher (10.1 ppg) are all averaging in double figures.  Heise has team-high totals of 4.9 rebounds per contest and 23 steals, while Anderson leads with 82 assists.

Northern Michigan enters Thursday's home game vs. Saginaw Valley State having won five of its last seven contests since the loss in Motown.  Bre Gaspervich (12.2 ppg) and Darby Youngstrom (11.7) are leading the Wildcats in scoring.  Gaspervich has made a team-high 32 triples and also leads the squad with 46 steals.  Youngstrom has a team-best 6.8 rebounds per contest, with Chloe Tompkins having a team-high 51 assists.  Erin Honkala leads NMU with 29 blocked shots, while Gaspervich is second in assists with 50.

LAST WEEK'S RECAP
Wayne State lost twice at home last week falling 68-51 to Grand Valley State and 71-67 vs. Ferris State.

The Warriors started slowly and never recovered in falling to the visiting Lakers on Feb. 2.

GVSU scored the first eight points of the game.  WSU trailed by six to 11 points for eight minutes of the opening stanza and pulled within six (17-11) on a late three pointer by Shannon Wilson.  Grand Valley State made six field goals, including 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.  Meanwhile, the Warriors were 1-of-7 from three-point range.

Christina Green split a pair from the charity stripe in the opening 30 seconds of the second period to cut the Wayne State deficit to five (17-12) before GVSU went on an 8-1 run to open a 12-point advantage.  In the final four minutes before intermission, the Lakers had a 8-4 scoring edge to lead 33-17.

The Warriors scored five of the first eight points in the third period on back-to-back lay-ups by Nastassja Chambers and junior Payton Birchmeier, and a free throw by Ja'Nae Williams.  The Lakers answered with an 11-5 spurt to open a 20-point margin (47-27) with just under three minutes remaining in the stanza.  Both teams ended the third quarter with 21 points as each squad made eight field goals.

Wayne State shot 26 percent (14-of-55) from the floor, while GVSU made 38 percent (23-of-61) of its field goal attempts.  WSU was just 5-of-21 (24 percent) from beyond the arc, compared to 37 percent (13-of-35) for the Lakers, who made more triples (13) and than two pointers (10).

Wilson had a team-high 13 points off the bench, while India Hawkins made 11-of-11 from the charity stripe.  Birchmeier grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.

Wayne State suffered another tough setback on Feb. 4 falling 71-67 to the visiting Ferris State Bulldogs.    The loss was WSU's seventh this year by five points or less.

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.  Sara Ruhstorfer and Shannon Wilson were each 1-for-1 from three-point range, while Jessica Murphy 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.

Green 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 Chambers 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.
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.

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

PLAYING THE BEST -- STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
When considering games through Feb. 5, Wayne State had played the fourth toughest schedule out of 316 Division II teams with an opponent winning percentage of .594.  WSU's remaining opponents have a .578 winning percentage with a projected .591 opponents winning percentage for the season.

CHAMBERS CONTRIBUTING ALL-AROUND THE COURT
Nastassja Chambers has made an impact in her first 23 collegiate contests.  She is leading the squad in points (300), free throw percentage (.821 / 69-of-84), assists (47), steals (48) and minutes played per game (30.9 per game).  Chambers also leads the team in field goals made (112) and free throws made (69).

WILSON CONNECTING FROM LONG DISTANCE
Shannon Wilson, who was last year's leading scorer, has led WSU in scoring five times this year, notching double figure totals in 15 of the 21 games she has played (and nine points in two other games).  Dating back to last season, Wilson has scored in double figures in 18 of 24 contests.  She has made a three-pointer in 23 of her last 27 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.

HAWKINS HAS ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
India Hawkins went 11-for-11 at the foul line vs. GVSU.  The 100 percent on foul shots marks the fifth time in program history that a WSU player went at least 11-for-11 on free throws.  Liz O'Brien (Jan. 12, 1984, vs. GVSU) and Shareta Brown (Feb. 21, 2015, at Walsh) were both 12-of-12, while Jodi Young (Dec. 29, 2003, vs. Northern Kentucky) and Kristen Rogers (Dec. 29, 2004, at Florida Southern) were each 11-of-11.

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 and Joe Abramson will call the action.

Hawkins made 16 triples as a freshman and shot 30.8 percent from beyond the arc.  She has made 27 three-pointers this season and is shooting 40.9 percent from long-range.  After beginning the year 9-of-27 from three-point range, Hawkins has connected on 18-of-39 over the last nine games.