The Warriors and Bulldogs split a pair of regular season games this season.

Women's Basketball 3/4/2022 7:00:00 PM Zachary Manning, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Women's Basketball Set for GLIAC Semifinal Against Ferris State

The Warriors are one of four teams still playing in the GLIAC Tournament

STORYLINES
After collecting the first ever postseason win in the Wayne State Fieldhouse by defeating Parkside 70-65 in the GLIAC Quarterfinals on March 2, WSU has its sights set on reaching even more firsts. A win over Ferris State would push the Warriors into their first ever GLIAC Championship game.

SERIES HISTORY
The Warriors currently trail the all-time series with the Bulldogs 38-41. However, the Green and Gold have won four of the last five meetings. The last time these two squads met in the postseason, the Warriors emerged victorious, collecting a 78-76 win at Ferris State in a 2020 GLIAC Quarterfinal matchup.

Against GVSU, the Warriors haven't found much success as of late, losing the last 15 meetings. All-time, the Green and Gold trail 26-57. Nine of those 26 wins have come at GVSU. Against MTU, the Warriors are 20-44 all-time. WSU has lost the last four meetings, including a pair of single-digit losses this season. The two squads have never played in the postseason.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Ferris State has a quartet of scorers in double figures, giving the Bulldogs a multitude of ways to score. Kadyn Blanchard is recording 14.3 points per game, while Adrienne Anderson adds 13.6, Chloe Idoni averages 12.1 and Mallory McCartney is scoring 10.2 a night.

Ferris ranks in the top half of the league in a variety of offensive categories, including points per game (72.4), three-pointers made per game (8.5), assists (17.3) and three-point percentage (.351).

In terms of GVSU, the Lakers have a solid trio of scorers and utilize a team-style of basketball to shut teams down. Emily Spitzley leads the way with 12.6 points per contest, while Rylie Bisballe and Ellie Droste are just under 12 points a game. Spitzley and Droste shoot better than 40 percent from beyond the arc.

As a team, the Lakers' bread and butter is defense, as they hold opponents to 48.2 points per game. They are top three in the league in blocks, steals, opponents field goal percentage and opponents three point field goal percentage.

Michigan Tech has an explosive offense with a variety of players to look out for. Ellie Mackay is one of the premier scorers in the GLIAC, posting 16.9 points per game. Alex Rondorf, Sara Dax and Katelyn Meister all average double figure point totals as well.

The Huskies lead the league in all shooting categories, hitting 46 percent of their shots from the field, 36 percent of their looks from deep and 80 percent of their free throws.

LAST TIME OUT
After collecting the first win in the Wayne State Fieldhouse last November, Wayne State posted the first ever post-season victory in the new arena, edging the University of Wisconsin-Parkside 70-65 March 2 in a GLIAC Quarterfinal contest.

The Warriors sprinted in front, posting the game's first five points, thanks to a Grace George lay-up and a Becca Fugate triple. The Rangers knotted the game at 10-10 with 5:36 to play in the stanza. Kate Sherwood broke that tie with a bucket on the next Warriors possession. George followed with a two-point bucket of her own to put the Green and Gold in front 14-10. The two squads battled evenly down the stretch, as a Fugate triple with just over a minute to go in the frame gave the Warriors a 19-15 lead heading into the second 10 minutes of action.

Parkside jumped in front 20-19 after scoring the first five points of the frame. Fugate stopped the bleeding with a lay-up, and the two squads followed that with a pair of buckets. The Warriors led 23-22 at the 6:25 mark of the period. Alyssa Leister pushed the Green and Gold's lead to three with a lay-up, but a Parkside three evened the score at 25-25 with just under five minutes to play in the half. Neither offense could find much down the stretch before intermission, as the two foes entered the break tied at 27-27.

WSU opened the second half scoring the first six points to take a 33-27 lead. Sam Cherney had a pair of buckets, while George provided the other two points. With just over six minutes to play in the frame, George embarked on a 8-0 run by herself, helping the Warriors build a 12-point advantage (43-31). The Rangers showed no quit, however, getting the game back within 10 before Alyssa Nelson drained a three at the buzzer. The Green and Gold led 47-40 after three quarters.

Parkside quickly closed the gap to two (49-47), thanks to some hot shooting to start the final period. As she had all night, George slowed the Parkside run with a bucket. Fugate followed George's basket with a three pointer to extend WSU's advantage to seven (54-47) with just over six minutes to play. Nelson brought the Rangers within five, but a George three-point jumper extended the Warriors' lead to eight (60-52) with just over four minutes left in the contest. Down the stretch, Parkside closed the gap and pulled within two (64-62) with 50 seconds remaining. But Fugate found a slicing George for a bucket with 31.5 seconds to play, putting the Warriors back in front by four (66-62). On the other end, Parkside would nail a shot from deep with 25.9 seconds remaining to stay within reach at 66-65. However, Sherwood was perfect from the free-throw line down the stretch making four foul shots in the final 15 seconds, and the Warriors collected a 70-65 victory.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Entering this weekend, WSU was first in defensive rebounds per game (31.7), 11th in field goal percentage defense (.343), 12th in rebounding margin (+8.8), 18th in rebounds per game (43.3), 20th in blocks per game (4.7), 24th in blocked shots (123) and 32nd in three point field goal percentage (.344).

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

Individually, Sam Cherney is ninth in rebounds per contest (12.0), 11th in total rebounds (311), 13th in blocks per game (2.6) and defensive rebounds per game (8.1), 15th in blocked shots (67) 25th in offensive rebounds per game (3.9) and 32nd in double-doubles (12).

Additionally, Kate Sherwood is 38th nationally in free-throw percentage (.852 / 75-88).

In terms of single game totals, Cherney's 21 rebounds against Ferris State (1/6/22) are tied for 14th most in a game this season.

Among all active D2 players, Cherney is ninth in rebounding average (9.7), 10th in blocks (212), tied-for-13th in blocks per game (2.02), 15th in career total rebounds (1,021), and tied-for-39th in double-doubles (25).

ALL-GLIAC HONOREES
Wayne State University senior women's basketball players Sam Cherney, Grace George and Kate Sherwood received All-GLIAC recognition. Both Cherney and George were voted to the All-GLIAC First Team, while Sherwood received Second Team All-GLIAC honors.

Cherney was voted to the All-GLIAC First Team for the second consecutive season after averaging a double-double in conference games with 11.5 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per contest.

George led the Warriors in league scoring at 14.3 points per contest, which ranked seventh in the conference. She had 5.8 boards per game, which was 10th in the GLIAC.

Sherwood collected All-GLIAC Second Team honors after posting 11.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, while starting all 20 conference contests. She led the team in assists (50) and was third in field goals made (79).

ALL-GLIAC DEFENSIVE TEAM
Sam Cherney was selected to the All-GLIAC Defensive Team for the third consecutive season after leading the league in rebounds (11.5) and blocks per game (2.6). She won GLIAC South Division Player of the Week honors on Feb. 7 after notching her seventh double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds against Saginaw Valley State. She also blocked five shots and dished out four assists to just one turnover.

Like Cherney, Sherwood was also a member of the All-GLIAC Defensive Team. She was third on the team in total rebounds (97) and second in steals (26), while committing just 23 fouls in 20 games. Sherwood was routinely matched up with the opposing teams best player, holding several all-league players below their scoring averages throughout the season. Her 26 steals ranked seventh in the GLIAC, while her 651 minutes played was sixth.

STINGY DEFENSE
The Warrior defense has been outstanding so far through 26 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 34.3 percent from the floor. The school record is 35.9 percent by the 1977-78 team.

1: .343 / 2021-22
2: .359 / 1977-78
3: .368 / 2012-13
4: .384 / 2014-15
5: .386 / 1980-81

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 1,021 career rebounds passing former Warrior great Shareta Brown, who totaled 769 rebounds in her two seasons at WSU (2013-15).

Against Davenport (2/26) Cherney became the third Warrior and first female player to surpass 1,000 career rebounds.

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.

CATCH THE ACTION
Every remaining basketball game this season will be aired live on WDTK The Patriot 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"; Senior

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

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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