HOUGHTON, Mich. -- The Wayne State University women's basketball squad (19-6 overall, 14-5 GLIAC) earned a regular-season sweep of No. 17 Michigan Tech (22-4 overall, 16-3 GLIAC) for only the second time in the last 11 years with a dramatic 71-69 triumph Thursday evening at the SDC Gym on the campus of MTU.  WSU's only previous season sweep was during the 2013-14 campaign when the Warriors won 74-63 at home and 90-82 in Houghton.  Prior to that, WSU won the lone meeting during the 2006-07 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

In a back-and-forth first quarter that saw three ties and Wayne State holding the largest lead at three points (11-8) concluded with the Warriors leading 11-10.  Senior guard Shannon Wilson (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Bloomfield Hills) and sophomore guard Nastassja Chambers (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Arbor Prep) each played all 10 minutes in the frame and tied for team-high scoring honors with four points apiece.

The Huskies started the second period on a 10-4 run to open a 20-15 advantage, but WSU responded with a 9-0 run.  Senior Payton Birchmeier (Corunna, Mich.) scored the first four points of the spurt, before classmate Sara Ruhstorfer (Grand Blanc, Mich. / Flint Powers Catholic) connected from beyond the arc.  Wilson ended the run with a pair of foul shots.  Each team scored a bucket in the final 30 seconds with Wayne State leading 26-24 at intermission.

The third stanza was a see-saw affair with three ties in the first seven minutes.  After Birchmeier split a pair from the charity stripe to knot the game at 34-34, Chambers had layups on back-to-back possessions giving the Warriors a 38-34 lead.  Wilson and MTU's Kelli Guy each drained triples in the final 30 seconds making the score 43-40 in favor of WSU after 30 minutes.

The fourth quarter started the way the third period ended, with Ruhstorfer and Huskie Michelle LaFave exchanging three-pointers in the first 60 seconds.  Wayne State's advantage remained between one and three points until a Guy triple at the 6:24 mark tied the game at 52-52.  After Michigan Tech evened the score at 54-54, WSU went on a 10-3 run to open a 64-57 margin with 65 seconds remaining.  Wilson had six of the Warriors 10 points.

In a wild final 45 seconds, Guy made a three-pointer to cut the Wayne State lead to four (64-60).  Ruhstorfer made two free throws with 34 seconds left (66-60), before Elizabeth Kelliher made two layups in four seconds, the second coming off an offensive rebound of her own missed free throw pulling MTU within two (66-64).  Chambers made two foul shots with 23 seconds on the clock (68-64), but Guy answered with three free throws just two seconds later (68-67).

After Ja'Nae Williams (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) split a pair from the charity stripe, Michigan Tech tied the game at 69-69 on a LaFave layup with 13 seconds remaining.  Chambers made the second of her two foul shots with eight seconds left before a Guy turnover with three seconds left.  Birchmeier made 1-of-2 with two seconds left.

TEAM STATS

Wayne State shot 46 percent (23-of-50) from the field, compared to 43 percent (27-of-63) for MTU.  The Huskies were 8-of-16 (50 percent) from three-point range, while WSU was 3-of-11 (27 percent).  The Warriors were a solid 22-of-28 (79 percent) from the free throw line, with Michigan Tech making 7-of-8 (88 percent).  The Huskies had a 35-31 edge in rebounding.  The eight blocked shots by Wayne State was the most since the Warriors had 10 against Northern Michigan in December of 2015.

LEADING THE WARRIORS

Chambers had a team-high 23 points on 8-of-9 field goals and 7-of-8 free throws.  Wilson contributed 21 points and a team-best six assists.  Birchmeier had seven rebounds.

LEADING THE HUSKIES

Guy had a game-high 30 points, which included 7-of-8 from beyond the arc.  Kelliher had a game-high 10 rebounds.

UP NEXT

Wayne State will conclude the regular-season with a 3 p.m. tip-off on Saturday at Northern Michigan.