The Warriors defeated Purdue Northwest and Parkside back in late January.

Women's Basketball 2/9/2022 9:29:00 AM Zachary Manning, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Women's Basketball Set For Rematches Against Purdue Northwest And Parkside

Kate Sherwood tallied 38 combined points in the two games back in January.

STORYLINES
Wayne State will continue its busy stretch of three games in six days as Purdue Northwest (Thursday at 5:30 p.m.) and Parkside (Saturday at 1 p.m.) visit the Wayne State Fieldhouse. The Warriors have won six of their last seven contests with just six league game remaining.

WSU went 2-0 last week, with a 70-62 home court overtime triumph of Saginaw Valley behind double-doubles from Sam Cherney (GLIAC South Division Player of the Week) and Grace George, then posted an 81-65 victory at Northwood as George tallied a game-high 27 points.

SERIES HISTORY
The Warriors have an 8-1 lead in the all-time series vs. Purdue Northwest, including a 3-0 mark in Detroit but all three previous meetings in Motown were at the Matthaei. WSU notched a 60-48 triumph in Hammond, Ind., last month after splitting in Northwest Indiana in 2021 (W, 61-56 OT; L, 81-64).

Wayne State has taken a 7-5 advantage in the all-time series against Parkside after winning the last four meetings. The Warriors ended a three-game losing streak in Kenosha with an 85-84 victory last month. WSU won both home games last season vs. the Rangers (81-62 and 69-60).

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
The Pride have won three of their last five contests, including home court wins over Michigan Tech (93-89 OT) and Northern Michigan (53-52) this past weekend.

Sophomore guard Dash Shaw is the lone PNW player averaging in double figures (13.4 PPG), since junior guard Savaya Brockington has not played since mid-December when she was scoring 13.6 points per contest. Junior guard Abbie McDowell, who is second on the team in scoring (8.5 PPG), has made a team-high 28 triples, while junior guard Anjel Galbraith has dished out a team-best 66 assists, along with a squad-leading 25 steals.

Senior center Molly Devalkenaere has grabbed a team-high 88 rebounds, with sophomore forward Antreese Shelton leading the squad with 17 blocked shots.

The Rangers have won four straight games heading into Thursday's contest at Saginaw Valley, with the last three victories coming by an average of 17 points.

Player of the Year candidate Alyssa Nelson is averaging a league-leading 21.0 points per game. The senior guard is tied for the GLIAC lead with 57 made triples and has a team-best 32 steals along with 116 rebounds (5.3 RPG).

Senior guard Hannah Plockelman is scoring 12.9 points per outing and leads the squad in rebounding with 6.7 boards per game. Plockelman (58 assists), Nelson (55) and freshman guard Paty Gallasova (55) have combined for nearly half of the team's assists.

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State posted an 81-65 triumph at Northwood on Monday to sweep the season series and snap the Timberwolves eight-game winning streak. The score was tied three times in the first 3:30 of the contest, before a triple by Alexis Miller ignited a 7-0 run. The Warriors led 18-12 after 10 minutes. Wayne State began the second period on an 11-0 run as Northwood was held scoreless for over 3:30. Becca Fugate started the barrage with a triple, and Miller knocked down back-to-back three-point shots before Grace George scored from down low for a 29-12 advantage 2:20 into the frame.

The Timberwolves tallied the final five points before intermission cutting the Warrior margin to 13 at 41-28. Northwood began the second half on a 6-3 run to pull within 10 (44-34), but every time the Timberwolves tried to mount a comeback, George and Maxine Moore responded for the Warriors. George recorded 15 points in the period, including three triples, while Moore contributed seven points in the stanza.

In a high-scoring quarter that saw 50 points scored, WSU extended its advantage to 15 points (67-52) heading into the final stanza. Wayne State's lead was trimmed to 13 on three occasions, but each time the Warriors responded with points. Sam Cherney scored six of WSU's 14 points in the period. George scored a game-high 27 points and added six rebounds, while Miller contributed 16 points, six rebounds and five assists. Fugate chipped in with 15 points, while Cherney tied for game-high rebounding honors with 10 boards.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
WSU is ranked third in defensive rebounds per game (31.0), 18th in blocks per game (4.8), 21st in both rebounding margin (+8.1) and three-point field goal percentage (.356), 26th in rebounds per contest (42.72), 33rd in field goal percentage defense (.357), and 34th in blocked shots (87),

The Warriors currently lead the GLIAC in rebounds per game and blocks per game, along with rebounding margin and defensive rebounds per game.

Individually, Sam Cherney is seventh in blocks per game (2.83), 10th in rebounds per game (11.7), 11th in blocked shots (51), 18th in defensive rebounds per game (7.8), 23rd in total rebounds (210), and 29th in offensive rebounds per contest (3.8).

Kate Sherwood is 44th nationally in free throw percentage (.848 / 56-of-66).

Additionally, Cherney's 21 rebounds against Ferris State (1/6/22) are tied for 13th most in a game this season.

GEORGE CONTINUES SCORING IN BUNCHES
Senior Grace George broke the school record for points in a quarter with 18 vs. Ferris State on 5-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-3 from three-point range, and 6-of-6 at the charity stripe. Brittany Streetman had a 16-point fourth quarter on February 1, 2016, at Findlay in the first year the women's collegiate game went to quarters from halves.

A double digit quarter is nothing new for George. She had three in just six games last year before suffering a season-ending injury in game six. She had an 11-point outburst in the first game at Davenport, totaled 13 points in a quarter in game one vs. Northwood, and tallied 11 points the next day vs. the Timberwolves before being injured. In Monday's win at Northwood, George contributed 15 points in the third period.

George finished the FSU contest with 34 points, which is tied-for-10th most in program history, and is the most since Shannon Wilson scored 35 vs. Findlay on November 11, 2017. The six made triples is tied-for-10th most in school history, as is the .667 percentage from beyond the arc.

STINGY DEFENSE
The Warrior defense has been outstanding so far through 18 games.

In fact, this year's squad is on pace to have the lowest opponent field goal percentage in program history. WSU is currently allowing opponents to shoot 35.7 percent from the floor. The school record is 35.9 percent by the 1977-78 team.

1: .357 / 2021-22
2: .359 / 1977-78
3: .368 / 2012-13
4: .384 / 2014-15
5: .386 / 1980-81

TABBED FOR THIRD
In the GLIAC Preseason poll, the Warriors were picked to finish third in the South Division behind Grand Valley State and Northwood. Both of those teams received first-place votes.

Michigan Tech and Ferris State were the top two teams in the North Division. Both of those squads received first-place votes.

CHERNEY MAKES HISTORY
In the loss at Ashland on Nov. 28, Sam Cherney collected a game-high 14 rebounds, which made her WSU's all-time leading rebounder. Cherney currently has 920 career rebounds passing former Warrior great Shareta Brown, who totaled 769 rebounds in her two seasons at WSU (2013-15).

NON-CONFERENCE NOTES
The Warriors started the season 4-0 for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign and lost its first game of the season at sixth-ranked Ashland on Nov. 28.

WARRIOR ALL-ACCESS
Every home basketball game this season will be streamed at WSUAthletics.com/watch with Warrior broadcaster Kevin Brechmacher calling the action.

WARRIOR COACHES
Assistant coach Karen Lafata, who holds three degrees from Wayne State, has been with head coach Carrie Lohr for all 10-plus seasons.

Assistant coach Christina Green joined the coaching staff in the summer of 2019 as a graduate assistant coach and was elevated to a full-time assistant coach this past spring. Green played basketball for the Warriors between 2013 and 2017 scoring in double figures 19 times.

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Players Mentioned

#13 Sam Cherney: F; 6' 3"; Junior

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

#32 Grace George: F; 5' 10"; Junior

#10 Alexis Miller: G; 5' 7"; Junior

#21 Kate Sherwood: G; 5' 8"; Junior

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

Players Mentioned

#13 Sam Cherney
: 6' 3"; Junior
: F

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

#32 Grace George
: 5' 10"; Junior
: F

#10 Alexis Miller
: 5' 7"; Junior
: G

#21 Kate Sherwood
: 5' 8"; Junior
: G

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