Women's Basketball 12/27/2022 7:31:00 AM Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Women's Basketball Hosts Michigan-Dearborn On Friday To Close Out 2022

Warriors have won seven of their last nine contests.

STORYLINES
Wayne State enters its final non-conference test having won seven of its last nine games. The University of Michigan-Dearborn comes to Detroit having won its last two contests ending a five-game losing streak.

The Warriors and Wolverines will tip-off at 5 PM inside the Wayne State Fieldhouse on Dec. 30.

SERIES HISTORY
The Green and Gold are 22-1 all-time versus Michigan-Dearborn, including a 17-1 mark at home. The Warriors have won the last 16 meetings, with the only loss coming back on Jan. 6, 1987 (81-67). The teams last met on Nov. 26, 2017, with WSU winning 90-30 behind 16 points from Nastassja Chambers.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Michigan-Dearborn has struggled to score the ball, averaging just over 59 points per contest, while giving up more than 75 per game. The Wolverines shoot under 40 percent from the field and make just 29 percent of their shots from beyond the arc.

Leading the way for U-M has been Siena Smith, who averages 10.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. She is shooting 38 percent from the floor and 31 percent from three-point range.

Aiding the attack have been India Grissom and Abby Fullerton. Grissom is shooting 38 percent from the field and averages 9.3 points per contest. Grissom and Smith lead the team in assists with 29 helpers each.

As for Fullerton, she is the team's best shooter from beyond the arc, making 35 percent of her triple tries. She averages 8.1 points per game.

LAST GAME RECAP
Wayne State traveled to Findlay and was able to upend the Oilers 68-55 on Dec. 19.

After a Findlay bucket opened the scoring, Maxine Moore would score four consecutive points to push the Green and Gold in front 4-2 early in the first frame. From there, the two teams would trade buckets throughout the middle portion of the period. Mashayla Cecil would nail a three to put the Warriors in front 11-9 at the 3:18 mark of the stanza. Down the stretch, Becca Fugate would score five points to make the score 16-16 entering the second 10 minutes.

Moore opened the second frame with a three-point play that was matched at the other end by the Oilers. Later in the stanza, the Warriors would embark on an 11-0 run to go in front 30-21 with 5:36 to go in the half. Moore and Hillary Griffin each scored four points in the run, while Ally Shagena chipped in three.

Following that, the Oilers would score four points in a row to bring the score back to within five (30-25). With just over two minutes to play in the half, Fugate would nail another triple to extend the Green and Gold's advantage to 35-25. The two teams would each add a bucket to close the half, which sent WSU into the break with a 37-27 lead. Wayne State outscored the Oilers 21-11 in the second period, and Findlay made just two field goals in the final five minutes of the half.

The lead quickly grew to 12 (39-27) with a pair of free throws by Shea Tripp. The two teams continued to trade baskets through the early part of the third frame. Findlay used a 4-0 run before the media timeout to pull within eight (45-37). After the timeout, the Oilers made another basket to make the score 45-39 in favor of WSU. Alyssa Leister stopped the run by going 3-of-4 from the free-throw line to push the Warriors in front by nine (48-39).

After a Moore basket pushed the lead back to double digits, Findlay would hit a triple to bring the score back to within eight (50-42). But a Fugate layup with just over 30 seconds to play would help the Green and Gold take a 10-point lead (52-42) into the final 10 minutes.

Findlay opened the period with four straight points before a pair of Fugate free throws helped the Warrior offense find a spark. Following the free throws, Sophia Karasinski would hit a pair of shots to help WSU build its lead back to 12 (58-46). After the media timeout, Findlay was able to cut the lead to nine (60-51). However, a Cecil layup pushed the Warrior lead back to 11 (62-51) with 3:53 to play. With just over two minutes to play, another Moore bucket elevated the WSU advantage to 66-53. Down the stretch, Wayne State would close the contest out and collect a 68-55 victory.

Wayne State edged the Oilers in a variety of statistical categories, including field goal percentage (.449-.356), free-throw percentage (.800-.733), rebounds (40-31) and made three pointers (4-2).

NATIONAL ATTENTION
With a solid start to the season and some key performances by players early on, the Warriors have put themselves in the national conversation in multiple statistical categories.

Nationally, Wayne State is ranked ninth in three-point percentage defense (.230), 17th in field-goal percentage (.457), 19th in assists per game (17.2), 20th in free-throw percentage (.780) and 48th in scoring offense (73.0).

Individually, Becca Fugate ranks 51st in free-throw percentage (.868). Shea Tripp has been stuffing the stat sheet and ranks 59th in assists per game (4.2) and 62nd in steals per game (2.5).

CAREER WEEKEND
As two of the only veteran leaders on this young Wayne State team, Maxine Moore and Becca Fugate were dialed in throughout the GLIAC home-opening weekend against Purdue Northwest and Parkside.

Against Purdue Northwest, Fugate was terrific, as she posted a career-high 27 points, while shooting 8-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Her third made three-pointer of the night increased her career total to 100 triples.

She followed that performance with 25 points and five rebounds against Parkside, which included five three pointers.

Not to be outdone, Moore helped carry the load for Wayne State against the Pride and Rangers. Against PNW, Moore tallied 21 points and five rebounds, while shooting 9-of-13 from the field, including two three pointers.

Against Parkside, she was able to notch a career-high 24 points, while adding 10 rebounds. She shot 50 percent from the floor (8-of-16) and went 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.

Kate McArthur chipped in with 11 assists and four steals in the two contests.

SKIPPING THE SOPHOMORE JINX
Wayne State sophomores Alyssa Leister and Shea Tripp are proving that the second year in college is not a down year. Leister has already scored more points and dished out more assists than last year, while making 11 more field goals than all of last season.

Tripp has greatly improved her rebounds per game average (6.8 compared to 3.8 last year), while needing only four assists to match her total from all of last season. Additionally, she is 38 points away from matching her point total from last season and is 15 steals behind her pace from a year ago.

NEARLY IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Wayne State sophomore Shea Tripp almost became the third player in program history to record a triple-double, with her incredible performance against Walsh on the final day of the Warrior Holiday Tournament.

Tripp finished the contest with an impressive 13 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. She also tallied two steals vs. the Cavaliers.

WARRIOR ALL-ACCESS
Every regular season home game will be streamed via Warrior All-Access at WSUAthletics.com.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Becca Fugate: G; 5' 7"; Senior

#13 Hillary Griffin: F; 5' 11"; Freshman

#34 Sophia Karasinski: G; 5' 9"; Graduate Student

#2 Alyssa Leister: G; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#30 Kate McArthur: G; 5' 8"; Senior

#42 Maxine Moore: F; 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior

#14 Ally Shagena: F; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#23 Shea Tripp: F; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#11 Mashayla Cecil: G; 5' 4"; Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

#4 Becca Fugate
: 5' 7"; Senior
: G

#13 Hillary Griffin
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: F

#34 Sophia Karasinski
: 5' 9"; Graduate Student
: G

#2 Alyssa Leister
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: G

#30 Kate McArthur
: 5' 8"; Senior
: G

#42 Maxine Moore
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior
: F

#14 Ally Shagena
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: F

#23 Shea Tripp
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: F

#11 Mashayla Cecil
: 5' 4"; Graduate Student
: G