Wayne State won its third and fourth games in a row last week with triumphs over Saginaw Valley State and Northwood, with the latter coming in thrilling fashion on a buzzer-beater from senior Shannon Wilson.  The Warriors now own sole possession of second place in the GLIAC South Division, which place WSU fourth overall.    Wayne State will look to keep momentum going against a pair of U.P. teams  at home this week. 

THE SERIES
Wayne State trails MTU 18-40 in the all-time series, with an 11-18 mark at home.  The Warriors have lost the last four to the Huskies after winning three straight from Feb. 14, 2013 and Feb. 13, 2014.

The Warriors are 24-30 all-time against NMU, but hold a 14-11 advantage at home.  Carrie Lohr is 6-2 against the Wildcats, and had won three staight prior to last season's 79-60 loss on Feb. 11, 2017.  Wayne State has won seven of the last 10 against Northern Michigan. 

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
The 12th-ranked Huskies enter Thursday's meeting with a GLIAC-best .385 three-point percentage and second-best .481 percentage from the field.  MTU also leads the conference in turnovers (11.7) and blocks (5.6), while holding teams to a .381 shooting percentage, second best in the league behind WSU.  Three Huskies average double figures in seniors Kelli Guy (13.0), Lindsay Winter (12.9) and Brenna Heise (12.4).  All three are among the best in the GLIAC from behind the arc; Guy is second in the conference in three-point percentage (.454), with Winter fourth (.397) and Heise fifth (.395).  Winter is second in the GLIAC with 5.1 assists per game. 

NMU has lost five of its last seven contests, most recently falling 62-52 at Ferris State.  The Wildcats share an overtime loss to Grand Valley State with the Warriors; Northern Michigan lost in 2OT to the Lakers on Dec. 9, 66-59.  Junior Darby Youngstorm leads the team at 14.1 PPG, with junior Taylor Hodell (11.9), freshman Lexi Smith (11.6), and sophomore Jessica Schultz (10.8) joining in the double-figure averages.  Youngstrom and Smith each average a team-best 1.5 APG, with Schultz offering 1.4 per contests.  Schultz is also shooting 51.6 percent from the field. 

LAST TIME OUT
After falling behind by as much as 11 in the second half and nine in the fourth quarter, Wayne State went on a 13-2 run in the final 5:59 of regulation to rally in a 59-57 win at Northwood.  Senior Shannon Wilson, who scored Wayne State's final 11 points, threw up a buzzer-beater jumper to give WSU the two-point advantage as time expired. 

Wilson was the only Warrior in double figures, scoring 23 while leading the team with four rebounds.  Senior Sara Ruhstorfer scored eight points and led the team with two steals. 

KEEPING IT (UNDER) 120
After allowing 120 points at Ashland on Dec. 7, Wayne State had not allowed 120 points combined in any two consecutive contests.   The Warriors have won five of six since that game, and have held three opponents (Davenport, Lake Superior State, and Saginaw Valley State) to exactly 43 points. 

MOVING UP THE MASSEY
According to the Massey Ratings, Wayne State improved 12 places last week by going 2-0.  The Warriors are now 44th with an 11-4 mark.  Ashland sits atop the ratings, with Michigan Tech at seventh and Grand Valley State 11th.  Southern Indiana, a non-conference opponent of the Warriors this season, is 16th, while Findlayi is ranked 23rd.  WSU defeated the Oilers to start the season on Nov. 11.

MODELS OF CONSISTENCY
Several Warriors have tallied stat categories in every single outing.  Senior Shannon Wilson has a triple and a field goal in all but one contest, adding at least one rebound in 13 outings and one steal in 12 games.  Senior Payton Birchmeier has a rebound and a field goal in every contest and a steal in 13 games.  Junior Ja'Nae Williams has a point in 14 contests despite coming off the bench four times, and has a rebound in every game.  Sophomore Nastassja Chambers has at least two field goals in every game, recorded a free throw in all but one competition and has a rebound in 13 contests. 

A GRAND EFFORT
Senior Shannon Wilson became the 17th player in program history to reach 1,000 points in the fourth quarter of the Jan. 6 contest against LSSU.  Wilson enters this week's play with 1,043 points.

DOUBLE UP
Sophomore guard Nastassja Chambers and junior guard Ja'Nae Williams recorded double-doubles at Ferris State.  Chambers recorded her first career double-double against the Bulldogs with a 26-point, 13-rebound effort; Williams scored 13 points with 10 rebounds at FSU for her fourth career double-double.  Williams also had double-doubles on Dec. 2 with 15 points and 10 assists at Purdue Northwest; and in the season opener, she tallied 24 points and 11 rebounds in a win against Findlay.  Senior guard Shannon Wilson has the only other double-double this season, as she tallied 17 points and 10 rebounds at Oakland City on Nov. 16.

GARNERING GLIAC AWARDS
Sophomore guard Nastassja Chambers became the second Warrior this season to earn GLIAC South Division Player of the Week honors after receiving the award on Jan. 8.  Chambers had her first career double-double (26 points, 13 rebounds) at Ferris State, and then had a game-high 17 points against LSSU. She averaged 21.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.5 steals per game in the two games on Jan. 4 and Jan. 6.  Chambers joins senior guard Shannon Wilson, who was named the GLIAC South Division Player of the Week on Nov. 13.  Wilson tallied 35 points in the overtime win over Findlay on Nov. 11 and followed that with a 16-point performance in the triumph over Lake Erie on Nov. 13 to average 25.5 points on the weekend.  She shot 55 percent (17-of-31) from the field, and 88 percent (14-of-16) from the foul line, while contributing 11 rebounds, eight assists, five steals and one block.

THE 500 CLUB
Sophomore Nastassja Chambers reached 500 career points after her five-point effort at Davenport on Dec. 16.  Chambers is the 64th player all time in WSU history to reach the mark and did so in just 39 games.  

WARRIOR ADVANTAGE
Wayne State has had the lead at least once in all 15 contests played this season.  The Warriors led by as much as four in the first half against Southern Indiana, held a two-point advantage in the final nine seconds against GVSU, and led by as many as five in the first period against top-ranked Ashland.  WSU has never trailed against five opponents this season (Oakland City, Wright State Lake, Michigan-Dearborn, Purdue Northwest and Lake Superior State), and held leads against Lake Erie, Tiffin and Ferris State for the entire second half.  Against Saginaw Valley State, WSU took the lead with 29 seconds to go in the first quarter and never trailed again.

DON'T I KNOW YOU?
This season's roster includes two pairings of sisters, as twins Alex and Lyndsey Matus will be joined by Sara Ruhstorfer and her sister Anna.  Freshman Cydney Williams will team up with former high school teammate Nastassja Chambers, as the two won a state championship at Arbor Prep in 2016.

PRE-SEASON ACCOLADES
Senior Shannon Wilson was named to the Preseason All-GLIAC South Division Team before the start of the season.  It's the first time Wilson has received the honor. 

NEW FACES
The 2017-18 campaign features four new faces on this season's 16-player roster.  Freshmen Tori Perez, Anna Ruhstorfer and Cydney Williams will join redshirt freshman transfer Chavon Tiggs on the Warrior roster this season.  Additionally, redshirt freshman Amber Stephens will join the lineup after missing all of 2016-17 with a pre-season injury.

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 12 home contests during the 2017-18 season will be available on All-Access.  Monthly passes are available for $9.95, and year-long access is offered for $69.95.

COMCAST/XFINITY
Every women's basketball home game will be aired live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN 900.  Sean Baligian, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson will call the action.