STORYLINES
Wayne State is aiming to reach the GLIAC semifinals for the second consecutive year.  The Warriors have advanced to the conference final four five times previously (2003, 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2020), but has never advanced to the championship game.

THE SERIES
The Warriors trail 37-40 in the all-time series versus Saginaw Valley State.  WSU has won six of the last eight games against the Cardinals.  Wayne State and SVSU have never met on a neutral court or in the post-season in a series that began on January 30, 1976.

WSU trails 20-42 in the all-time series vs. Michigan Tech, which began in 1981.  The Huskies have won two straight and six of the last eight meetings between the two squads.  Wayne State and MTU have never met on a neutral court and just once in the post-season.

Wayne State leads 5-3 in the all-time series against Davenport.  The Panthers won the last match-up (60-58) in Caledonia on January 16th.  The two teams have never met in the post season..

GLIAC TOURNAMENT VS. MTU
2008 -- Semifinals -- SDC Gymnasium (Houghton, Mich.) -- #25-Michigan Tech 83, Wayne State 62

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Saginaw Valley State won five of its final six regular-season games to finish at 9-9.  Due to its high strength of schedule, the Cardinals earned the No. 4 seed for the conference tournament.

SVSU is led in scoring by sophomore guard Kaitlyn Zarycki (13.2 PPG) and junior guard Maddie Maloney (10.5 PPG).  Zarycki leads the Cardinals in rebounding (6.0 RPG), blocks (13) and steals (33), while Maloney has a team-high 70 assists.  Junior guard Maddie Barrie (32 triples) and Maloney (31 triples) and have combined for 64 three-pointers.

Head coach Jenny Pruett is in her second season leading SVSU after spending the three previous years as an assistant coach at St. Bonaventure.

Michigan Tech enters the GLIAC Tournament with a 15-game winning streak since a two-point (58-56) home court loss to Northwood on January 15th.

MTU is led in scoring by junior guard Ellie Mackay (14.5 PPG) and freshman forward Jordan Ludescher (12.6 PPG).  Mackay has made a team-high 28 triples, while Ludescher leads in rebounds (6.2 RPG).  Sophomore guard Katelyn Meister has a team-best 17 blocks, while senior guard Cassidy Trotter has a team-high 43 steals.

Third-year head coach Sam Hoyt has compiled a 49-27 mark after earning Honorable Mention All-America accolades as a player for the Huskies.

Davenport pulled the lone upset in the first round of the GLIAC Tournament winning 61-45 at Northern Michigan behind 18 points from Scout Nelson.

Junior guard Toni Grace leads DU in scoring (16.9 PPG), three-pointers made (45) and steals (36), while sophomore forward Emily Lange has a team-best 92 rebounds.  Nelson leads with 49 assists, with forward Courtney McInerney having a team-high 12 blocks.

Rick Albro is in his fourth season leading the Panthers, who rebounded from losing six of their last seven regular-season games to reach the quarterfinals.

LAKE SUPERIOR STATE RECAP
After trailing for much of the first quarter, Wayne State scored 10 consecutive points to snap a 28-28 deadlock.

LSSU pulled within six (41-35) late in the first half, but a triple by Alexis Miller made it a nine-point contest at intermission.

Becca Fugate connected from long distance on WSU's opening possession of the second half and the lead remained in double digits the rest of the contest.

Tori Perez led with a team-high 17 points, while Sam Cherney had 14 points, a game-high 14 rebounds, three blocks, and a steal.  Fugate contributed 13 points, while Miller had 11 points as four starters were in double figures.

NCAA STATS RECAP (through games of 3/1/21)
WSU ranks 25th in NCAA Division II in blocked shots per game (4.4), 16th in total blocked shots (79), 35th in rebounding margin (+6.2), and 43rd in rebounds per game (41.39).

Junior forward Sam Cherney is sixth in blocked shots (46), ninth in both rebounds per game (11.9) and total rebounds (215), 11th in blocked shots per game (2.56), 12th in offensive rebounds per game (4.3), 20th in defensive rebounds per game (7.7), and 25th in double-doubles (7).

Junior guard Kate Sherwood is 25th in free throw percentage (87.5%).

CHERNEY IS BLOCKING HER WAYINTO 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 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
The four first round GLIAC Tournament winners were 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-Davenport at 11 am
#4-Saginaw Valley State vs. #5-Wayne State at 2 pm
#2-Grand Valley State vs. #7-Parkside at 5 pm
#3-Northwood vs. #6-Ashland 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.