DETROIT – The Wayne State University women's basketball team (13-4 overall, 8-3 GLIAC) won its sixth game in a row, defeating Northern Michigan (8-10 overall, 4-6 GLIAC) 64-50 Saturday afternoon at the Matthaei.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Warriors started on a 4-0 run thanks to a layup plus an and-one play from senior Shannon Wilson (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Bloomfield Hills) and a free throw from junior Ja'Nae Williams (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King).  Northern Michigan answered with a four-point run of its own, but with the score tied at 4-4 the Warriors countered with an 8-2 run, culminating in a Wilson jumper that made it 12-6 with 4:47 to play in the opening stanza.  By quarter's end, Wayne State held a 17-12 lead.

In the second period, NMU started the scoring with a layup from Erin Honkala with 7:46 left in the quarter.  The Warriors and Wildcats traded buckets to bring the game to 19-16 with 6:50 left before intermission.  Williams finally expanded WSU's lead with 6:34 left before the half, as she drained a three to push the Wayne State lead to 22-16.

NMU countered with a 5-0 run, to get within one (22-21) with 4:56 left, but Wilson hit a three-pointer, and after Northern Michigan's Taylor Hodell hit a jumper, Williams hit another from beyond the arc.  With 4:01 left in the half, the Warriors led 28-23.  Northern Michigan then outscored WSU 9-6 to close the quarter, leaving Wayne State with a 34-32 halftime lead.

The momentum for Northern Michigan carried over out of the break. Two free throws from Lexi Smith with 8:54 on the clock tied the game at 34-34, which was the first time Wayne State didn't lead since the game was knotted 4-4 just 2:11 into the contest.  After WSU re-took the lead and built it to four (40-36) with 6:20 to play, NMU went on a 5-0 run.  Emily Schramek hit a triple with 4:21 left in the frame, giving the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 41-40.

Fifty seconds later, however, Wilson hit a layup to make it 42-41.  NMU's Jessica Schultz hit a layup with 3:10 left – making it 43-42 in favor of NMU.  With 1:40 left, junior India Hawkins (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) hit a three to put the Warriors back in front 45-43.

The Warriors never lost the lead again.

After taking a 48-46 advantage into the fourth quarter, the Warriors were able to rattle off a 10-0 spurt in the early portion of the fourth quarter.  Williams made one of two free throws, and then WSU hit three triples in a row.  First, Chambers nailed one with 7:19 left – making it 54-48 – and Williams made back-to-back triples.  The second three-pointer was popped in the air under duress, with 5:35 on the clock and the shot clock nearing zero.  It gave the Warriors a four-possession lead (60-48), and seemingly gave Wayne State the final push it needed to hold off Northern Michigan.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 40.7 percent from the field (22-of-54), while NMU shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48).  WSU was 11-of-20 on three-point attempts (55.0 percent), compared to the Wildcats' 2-of-11 (18.2 percent).  Northern Michigan won the boards battle 37-22, but Wayne State beat NMU in assists (12-8) and had a commanding lead in steals (12-3).  Northern Michigan blocked seven shots, while the Warriors blocked five.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Wilson led the Warriors for the fourth straight game, scoring 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting.  She also made two of her three triple tries and went 5-of-5 from the free throw line.  Williams scored 18 points, including 4-of-6 from the free throw line and 4-of-6 from three-point range.  She also had eight rebounds.

LEADING THE WILDCATS
Honkala had 12 points and nine rebounds, while Smith scored 10 points and grabbing eight boards.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will take the full week off before starting the second rotation around the GLIAC.  Play resumes with a meeting against Davenport at 1 p.m. next Saturday (Jan. 27) at the Matthaei Center.