HOUGHTON, Mich. -- The Wayne State University women's basketball squad (7-17 overall, 4-13 GLIAC) began a four-game road swing with a 79-61 setback at Michigan Tech University (16-6 overall, 12-5 GLIAC) Thursday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After both teams failed to score on their opening two possessions each, the Warriors took a 2-0 lead on a pair of free throws by junior Shannon Wilson (W. Bloomfield, Mich. / Bloomfield Hills).  The Huskies rattled off seven consecutive points before senior Ajai Meeks (Detroit, Mich. / Pershing) had an offensive put back.  MTU went on another 7-0 run for a 14-4 lead.  Wayne State responded with a 9-4 run that preceded a late triple by Michigan Tech's Kelli Guy, which gave the hosts a 21-13 advantage after 10 minutes.

The Warriors were within five points on four occasions in the second quarter, the last being at 28-23 on Meeks bucket.  The Huskies ended the first half on an 11-4 run over the final 4:10 to lead 39-27 at intermission.

WSU had a 22-21 scoring edge in the third period as both freshman Nastassja Chambers (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Arbor Prep) and junior Payton Birchmeier (Corunna, Mich.) scored eight points apiece with Birchmeier connecting on both of her triple tries.  Wayne State cut its deficit to seven (52-45) with just under 2:30 remaining in the stanza, but MTU finished the period by scoring eight of the final 12 points for a 60-49 lead heading into the final quarter.

Michigan Tech scored the first six points of the final period.  The closest WSU would get was 14 points (68-54) just past the mid-point of the quarter.

TEAM STATS

Wayne State shot 37 percent (20-of-54) from the floor, compared to 52 percent (33-of-64) for MTU.  WSU was 2-of-8 (25 percent) from three-point range, while the Huskies connected 9-of-19 (47 percent) from beyond the arc.  The Warriors were 19-of-25 (76 percent) from the charity stripe, with Michigan Tech shooting 67 percent (4-of-6) on its free throws.

LEADING THE WARRIORS

Chambers was the lone Wayne State player in double figures with 15 points and tied Meeks for the team-high in rebounds with six boards each.  Chambers also contributed two steals and an assist in 35 minutes.

LEADING THE HUSKIES

Elizabeth Kelliher totaled a game-high 21 points and also tied teammate Morgan Anderson for the game-high mark in rebounds with seven.  Anderson garnered a game-best eight assists to go along with her 11 points.  Lindsay Winter had 14 points including four triples, while Kelli Guy contributed 11 points.

UP NEXT

Wayne State will conclude the weekend trip to the U.P. with an 11 a.m. tip-off on Saturday at Northern Michigan.