Women's Basketball 11/14/2023 11:38:00 AM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Women's Basketball Has Road-Home Split This Week

The Warriors will travel to Cedarville on Wednesday, before playing Tiffin in the home-opener on Friday.

GAME STORYLINES
Following a season-opening weekend in Ohio that saw Wayne State post a 1-1 record, the Warriors will finish their Ohio road trip with a contest at Cedarville on Wednesday, November 15 at 6 p.m. WSU will then play its home opener on Friday, November 17 with Tiffin visiting Detroit for a 5:30 p.m. tip.

The Green and Gold has an 8-4 ledger in home-opening games under head coach Carrie Lohr (2011-22), including a 1-1 mark at the Wayne State Fieldhouse. The Warriors defeated Lake Erie 75-45 on November 13, 2021, in the first official regular season contest inside the new building.

SERIES HISTORY
Wayne State has never lost a game to Cedarville as they maintain a 4-0 all-time series lead between the two programs. That total includes a pair of home and road contests. Most recently, WSU narrowly escaped the Yellow Jackets with an 85-83 overtime triumph at the Callan Athletic Center on November 17, 2021. Wayne State's average margin of victory is eight across its four wins.

The Warriors and their former GLIAC foe Tiffin have battled each other 23 times in history, with the Green and Gold having a 14-9 edge all-time. Wayne State has won its last four games against Tiffin, including a 75-63 victory on November 26, 2019, in the most recent affair. WSU has posted nine wins in the past 11 games against the Dragons, with a spotless 5-0 home mark in that span.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Cedarville split its pair of games last weekend during the GLVC/GMAC Challenge, defeating Quincy 54-52 on the road but falling 85-68 to Truman State the next day in a neutral site affair. Wednesday's contest against the Warriors will be the first of back-to-back games against GLIAC teams for the Yellow Jackets (Saginaw Valley State on November 21).

CU had four average in double-figures over the two-game weekend, including junior guard KaCee Kyle (16.0 PPG), senior guard Lydia Sweeney (11.5 PPG), junior guard Kat Weakley (11.5 PPG), and senior guard Anne Wheeler (11.0 PPG). Kyle knocked down 11 field goals, while also having the most attempts (26). Weakley made 7 of her 18 three-point tries (.389), with three of those helping Cedarville to its win over Quincy. Junior guard Leah Butterbaugh is the squad's leading rebounder through two contests (11), while Sweeney and Kyle each dished out seven assists. Sophomore guard Brianna Zajicek collected five steals.

The Yellow Jackets are coached by Addy Miller in her first season. She was announced as the 10th head coach in program history on March 22, 2023.

Tiffin dropped a pair of games by a combined eight points to Illinois-Springfield (65-61) and Purdue Northwest (61-57) last weekend. The Dragons are in the midst of three straight contests against GLIAC teams. TU will travel to Lake Superior State to battle the Lakers (November 16) the day before heading to Detroit.

The Dragons had leads in both games that they let slip. However, several Dragons had strong performances over the first two games. Senior guard Kirsten Williams scored in double-figures in both contests and came up one rebound short of a double-double vs. the Pride (17 points, nine rebounds). Williams also leads TU in three-point percentage (.545 / 6-of-11). Fellow senior guard Savanah Richards tallied 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting against the Prairie Stars.

Junior guard Presley Feltner leads the team with 13 rebounds, while also adding four assists and a blocked shot.

Josh Mason is in his second season as head coach of the Dragons. He led Tiffin to an 8-20 record in his first season at the helm of the program in 2022-23.

LAST WEEKEND RECAP
The Warriors fell 98-61 at #1-Ashland last Friday in the season-opener, but rebounded to defeat Malone 73-62 in the second game of a back-to-back set on Saturday.

Wayne State battled through a defensive stalemate inside Osborne Hall on Saturday to pull away from the Pioneers. Following seven lead changes in first half, junior forward Shea Tripp's made triple at nearly two minutes into the second half gave the Warriors a lead they'd never relinquish. WSU extended its lead to double-digits for the first time all game in the fourth quarter.

After shooting 31 percent (20-of-65) from the floor against Ashland, the Green and Gold improved to 46 percent (27-of-59) from the field vs. Malone. The squad also improved in three-pointers from 19 percent (3-of-16) against AU to 30 percent (7-of-23) against MU. Wayne State notched 29 steals over the two games and turned 22 Pioneer turnovers into 26 points, which outpaced Malone by 18.

GLIAC PRESEASON POLL
1. Grand Valley State (79 points, 7 first-place votes)
2. Ferris State (73 points, 3 first-place votes)
3. Michigan Tech (66 points)
4. Northern Michigan (52 points)
5. Wayne State (46 points)
6. Parkside (40 points)
7. Saginaw Valley State (37 points)
8. Davenport (22 points)
9. Purdue Northwest (19 points)
10. Lake Superior State (16 points)

TRIPP AND THOMPSON LEAD THE SCORING
Shea Tripp and sophomore Taylor Thompson were the leading offensive catalysts for WSU against Ashland and Malone.

Thompson has already started making the most of her opportunity to start for head coach Carrie Lohr after seeing only one start in 20 games last season as a freshman. The sophomore posted 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting against AU, which became a career-high for the forward.

Tripp registered 11 and 23 points, respectively, over the pair of games – including shooting 9-of-13 for her 23 points in the win at MU (a game-best). She will continue to be a key piece to the puzzle for WSU after playing an equally important part during 2022-23 when she set squad-best marks of .860 from the free throw line (104-of-121), 3.0 assists per game (81 in 27 games played), and 2.1 steals per game (57 in 27 GP).

NEWCOMERS ANNOUNCING THEIR PRESENCE
With seven newcomers (five freshmen and two transfers) on the roster in 2023-24, the women's basketball program is bound to have some names stand out for their performances as new Wayne State Warriors this campaign. J'Ahni Walker, Annabel Ayrault, McKenna Ferguson, and Emily Homan have been the four freshmen to see playing time in two games, while senior transfer ZaMaria Polk has also been called upon by head coach Carrie Lohr.

Ferguson stood out in the win 73-62 triumph at Malone by tallying 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting and draining all five attempts from the charity stripe. The guard's 15 points was second on the team behind Shea Tripp (23) and matched the Pioneers' team-high.

Ayrault knocked down a three-pointer at Ashland, while Homan hit a pair of free throws and also chipped in with a blocked shot and a steal against the Eagles. Polk made shots from the field and secured offensive rebounds in both games.

ASSIST MACHINES
The Warriors passed the rock around at an efficient pace last weekend to begin the new season, as the squad was officially credited for 25 assists (11 at Ashland and 14 at Malone). Last season, WSU totaled more than 10 assists in 20 of the 27 games played. The team will look to do even better in the new campaign than 2022-23, when the Green and Gold started the season with nine such performances of 10 or more assists – including back-to-back 25 assist games at Central State and vs. Carson-Newman. WSU ranks tied-for-fifth in the GLIAC with 12.5 APG.

Kate McArthur paced the Warriors in each game by being credited for six assists apiece. That puts the redshirt senior guard in a tie for first within the GLIAC in the statistic. She was second on Wayne State last season with 65 dimes (2.5 APG).

THE GOOD TYPE OF STEALING
The Green and Gold piled on the steals over this past weekend, generating 16 at AU and 13 at MU for 29 (14.5 SPG) through a pair of games. That puts the Warriors second behind Ferris State (15.5) within the league in the early going this fall.

The back-to-back contests of 10 or more steals reverses a trend from last season for WSU, as in 2022-23 there were only six such occurrences with one back-to-back (November 22 and 23 vs. Carson-Newman and Walsh). Shea Tripp, Kate McArthur, and redshirt senior guard Becca Fugate each garnered over five steals in the opening pair of games.

KEEP UP WITH THE ACTION
Every women's basketball GLIAC contest this season will be televised on FloSports (flohoops.com) per the conference's agreement with the streaming service. All home non-conference games will also be available on FloSports for the 2023-24 campaign. For the home contest against Tiffin on Friday (5:30 p.m.), Joe Abramson will handle play-by-play duties for the women's basketball broadcast. Abramson and Brady Beedon will share PBP responsibilities for home telecasts all season long, with veteran Tony Ortiz joining the team as sideline reporter for weekend contests.

In addition, the WSU Department of Athletics has partnered with The PreP for streaming home athletic events for the 2023-24 season.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Annabel Ayrault: G; 5' 9"; Freshman

#21 McKenna Ferguson: G; 5' 7"; Freshman

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

#32 Emily Homan: G; 5' 11"; Freshman

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

#5 Taylor Thompson: F; 5' 11"; Sophomore

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

#34 ZaMaria Polk: F; 6' 3"; Senior

#11 J'Ahni Walker: C; 6' 2"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#12 Annabel Ayrault
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: G

#21 McKenna Ferguson
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: G

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

#32 Emily Homan
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: G

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

#5 Taylor Thompson
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: F

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

#34 ZaMaria Polk
: 6' 3"; Senior
: F

#11 J'Ahni Walker
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: C