STORYLINES
After being tabbed for fourth in the GLIAC South Division, Wayne State finished in a three-way tie for third in winning percentage in the GLIAC overall standings, but were ranked fifth on the Point Ranking System which factors not only wins but also strength of schedule. The Warriors have qualified for the conference tournament for the 16th time and have a 5-16 mark in GLIAC post-season action heading into Tuesday's home contest with Lake Superior State. WSU has reached the GLIAC semifinals five times (2003, 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2020), but has never advanced to the championship game.
THE SERIES
WSU trails 39-41 in the all-time series against Lake Superior State. The Warriors are 25-15 when playing against LSSU at the Matthaei. Wayne State has won seven of the last nine meetings, and 16 of the last 19 match-ups starting with a WSU victory on February 6, 2010, in Sault Ste. Marie. Wayne State has won 11 straight meetings versus the Lakers in Motown.
GLIAC TOURNAMENT VS. LSSU
2002 -- First Round -- DeltaPlex (Grand Rapids, Mich.) -- Lake Superior 79, Wayne State 71
2003 -- Semifinals -- Cooper Gymnasium (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) -- Lake Superior 84, Wayne State 83
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Lake Superior State is 1-17 and the Lakers have lost 15 straight since a 60-58 win at home vs. Purdue Northwest on January 16th. Head coach Brandon Lokken is in his fourth year in charge of the LSSU women's basketball program. He has led the Lakers to a 20-77 overall record.
LSSU is led in scoring by sophomore forward Mattison Rayman (13.7 PPG) and junior forward Makenzie Bray (9/9 PPG). Rayman also leads in rebounds (7.4 RPG) and blocks (18), while Bray has a team-high 16 steals. Junior guard Sadie DeWildt has dished out a team-best 52 assists.
FERRIS STATE RECAP
Wayne State won twice in Big Rapids (48-47 and 59-54) to earn a share of third-place in the conference with an 11-7 league ledger.
The Warriors finished the regular season with a 6-3 home record along with a 5-4 road mark.
In the Friday victory at FSU, senior forward
Tori Perez grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with one second left for the win. Perez's bucket capped a furious comeback that saw WSU trailing by nine with just over six minutes left in the contest.
Junior
Kate Sherwood had a game-high 13 points and a team-best two steals. Junior forward
Sam Cherney and Perez both had eight points, while Cherney had a game-high 18 rebounds.
The Warriors trailed most of the first 14 minutes of the Saturday contest, before senior guard
Anna Ruhstorfer drained a triple putting WSU ahead 16-15.
Wayne State led by four (26-22) at intermission and by as many as 11 in the fourth quarter before holding off a late Bulldog rally.
Sophomore guard
Becca Fugate led with a team-high 13 points and two steals. Junior guard
Alexis Miller contributed 10 points, while Cherney had eight points, a game-high 10 rebounds and a team-best three assists.
NCAA STATS RECAP
WSU ranks 17th in NCAA Division II in blocked shots per game (4.5), 19th in total blocked shots (72), 22nd in rebounding margin (+6.9), and 47th in rebounds per game (41.19).
Junior forward
Sam Cherney is eighth in blocked shots (43), ninth in both rebounds per game (11.7) and blocked shots per game (2.69), 14th in offensive rebounds per game (4.3), 16th in total rebounds (187), 22nd in double-doubles (7), and 26th in defensive rebounds per game (7.4).
Junior guard
Kate Sherwood is 36th in free throw percentage (86.4%).
CHERNEY IS BLOCKING HER WAY INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
Wayne State junior
Sam Cherney became the school's all-time leader in blocked shots with three rejections at Saginaw Valley State on February 22, 2020.
A year ago, she became the first player in school history to average over two blocks per game for an entire season.
This year, Cherney is averaging nearly three blocks per game and has at least two blocks in all but six contests this season. Cherney had recorded at least one blocked shot in 17 consecutive games until having that streaked snapped at Purdue Northwest on February 6th.
WARRIOR COACHES
Assistant coach
Karen Lafata, who holds three degrees from Wayne State, has been with head coach
Carrie Lohr for all nine-plus seasons. Graduate assistant
Christina Green joined the coaching staff in the summer of 2019. Green played basketball for the Warriors between 2013 and 2017 scoring in double figures 19 times.
2021 GLIAC TOURNAMENT
All 12 GLIAC institutions qualified for the conference tournament and were seeded 1 through 12 based on the Point Ranking System.
The top four teams received a bye into the GLIAC Quarterfinals.
The four first round winners will be re-seeded fifth through eighth for the league quarterfinals, which will take place in Westville, Ind., on Thursday, March 4th (all times below are Central time):
#1-Michigan Tech vs. #8 at 11 am
#4-Saginaw Valley State vs. #5 at 2 pm
#2-Grand Valley State vs. #7 at 5 pm
#3-Northwood vs. #6 at 8 pm
The semifinals on Friday, March 5th will feature the 11 am and 2 pm winners playing at 4 pm, and the 5 pm and 8 pm winners squaring off at 7 pm.
The GLIAC Championship game will take place on Sunday, March 7 with tip-off at Noon Central time.
WARRIOR ALL-ACCESS
Every home basketball game this season was streamed live for free at WSUAthletics.com/watch. Tuesday's GLIAC First Round playoff game will also be aired on The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM) with Warrior broadcaster Kevin Brechmacher calling the action. Brechmacher also broadcasted two home women's basketball games on The Patriot earlier this season against Grand Valley State.
