Women's Basketball 11/21/2023 3:50:00 PM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Women's Basketball to Play Home-Road Split Against Lawrence Tech and Edinboro

The Warriors will host the Blue Devils on Sunday, before traveling to play the Fighting Scots next Tuesday.

GAME STORYLINES
Wayne State will have another home-road split in the upcoming week against two unfamiliar opponents. The Warriors will welcome NAIA member Lawrence Tech to the Wayne State Fieldhouse on Sunday, November 26 at 3 p.m. to conclude Thanksgiving weekend, before traveling to Edinboro, Pa., to face the Fighting Scots on Tuesday, November 28 at 5:30 p.m.

WSU and LTU have not played one another since November 29, 2015, while Wayne State and Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) member Edinboro will renew acquaintances for the first time since November 24, 2012.

SERIES HISTORY
WSU defeated Lawrence Tech by 10 (82-72) inside the Matthaei on November 29, 2015, for the lone meeting between the two programs prior to this weekend. Shannon Wilson led five Warriors in double figures with 21 points, along with a game-high 10 assists. Kristen Long contributed 11 points and a team-best eight rebounds.

Edinboro maintains a 5-1 edge in the all-time series between the two schools. The lone victory for the Warriors was an 81-76 triumph on New Year's Eve in 2008 at the Matthaei. The Fighting Scots have defended their home venue of McComb Fieldhouse well, as they have never lost to the Green and Gold there (4-0). That includes a narrow 77-74 win for EU on November 24, 2012, in the most recent matchup.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
LTU earned its first victory of the season in its last game, a 58-36 win over Cleary University on Nov. 18. The Blue Devils are scheduled to host Michigan-Dearborn this evening. Sunday's contest at the Fieldhouse will be an exhibition for Lawrence Tech.

Junior guard Maggie Long is leading LTU in scoring after four games, as well as its only player averaging in double figures (11.8 PPG). She also paces LTU in made field goals (15) and made three-pointers (10), while leading her team in attempts for both categories. Sophomore forward Kate Jacobs is a major presence defensively. She is the Lawrence Tech team leader in rebounds (29) and blocks (eight), while also showing an ability to draw fouls. Jacobs paces the Blue Devils with an .895 free throw percentage (17-of-19). Senior guard Addie Nagel has 12 assists for first on the squad, while Long and senior guard Dominique Evans are tied for the team-best with six steals.

Grace Howrigon is the head coach of Lawrence Tech. She is in her fifth season and has guided LTU to an even 58-58 overall ledger (.500) and 40-34 record in the WHAC (.541) during her tenure.

Edinboro split its first two games of the season, losing 74-61 at Wheeling on November 10, before notching a 72-69 win at West Liberty on November 11. EU had 10 days off between its victory at WLU and its next contest at Findlay on November 21. The Fighting Scots will be playing in their home opener when the Warriors travel to Pennsylvania.

Edinboro has two players averaging over 10 points per game after two contests in redshirt junior forward Gillian Fisher (14.0 PPG) and junior guard Hayley Sims (11.5 PPG). Fisher shot nearly .500 from the field in the first two contests (11-of-23 for .478 percent) and is the team leader in field goals made (11) along with being tied for the team lead in three-pointers made (three) with freshman guard Hope Garrity. Sims knocked down eight of her 10 free throw attempts (.800) and posted four blocks to leads the Fighting Scots. EU's leading rebounder is junior guard Lauren Mullen with 15, while senior guard Morgan Gentile racked up six steals in two games.

The leader of Edinboro is Callie Wheeler in her sixth season. Prior to being named head coach, Wheeler spent the previous 11 seasons as assistant coach at EU. She had led the program to a 69-45 overall record (.605) and a 54-33 mark (.621) in the PSAC.

LAST WEEKEND RECAP
WSU posted a successful 2-0 record last week at Cedarville (78-68) and vs. Tiffin (87-57) and are riding a three-game win streak entering the holiday weekend, all over GMAC opponents. The Warriors broke a 33-33 halftime tie at the Callan Athletic Center to pull away from the Yellow Jackets, out-scoring CU 45-35 in the final 20 minutes. Five members of the Green and Gold scored in double figures, including Annabel Ayrault and Thaya Luse (13), Becca Fugate (12), Shea Tripp (11), and Gabi Lutchka (10) with her first collegiate points.

The Warriors grabbed an early lead against the Dragons and never looked back, defeating a Tiffin team on the second end of a road back-to-back. WSU shot 46 percent (29-of-63) from the field and an impressive 50 percent (11-of-22) from beyond the arc, which contributed to the victory. Tripp scored a game-best 13 points, including 7-of-7 at the free throw line, while adding eight rebounds. The junior forward also garnered six steals to finish one short of her career-high.

TRIPP EXTENDS STREAK
By registering 11 and 13 points, respectively, at Cedarville and vs. Tiffin, Shea Tripp has scored 10 or more points in all four games this season. Dating back to last campaign, the junior forward is on a streak of eight consecutive contests of reaching double figures. Her streak began with 17 points against Grand Valley State on February 18, 2023.

Tripp scored 10 or more points in 19 of her 27 games a season ago, with her career-best of 27 coming at Ferris State on February 9. Last season, the forward 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).

THOMPSON MAKING THE MOST OF STARTING ROLE
Sophomore Taylor Thompson has started all four games to begin the 2023-24 season for head coach Carrie Lohr after starting in just one of her 20 contests as a true freshman last campaign. The forward has made the most of her new starting role, nearly posting back-to-back double-doubles in the victories over Cedarville and Tiffin. Thompson collected nine points and nine rebounds to help the Warriors surpass the Yellow Jackets, while notching 12 points and seven rebounds in the triumph vs. TU. In the season-opener at top-ranked Ashland, she posted 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting against AU, which became a career-high.

The sophomore ranks fifth in the GLIAC in rebounding (7.3 RPG) as of Monday.

THREE-POINT SUCCESS
A key to Wayne State's two wins last week came in part to the team's three-point shooting. After hitting just 3-of-16 triple tries at Ashland and improving to a .304 clip (7-of-23) at Malone, the Warriors turned up the heat and progressively performed better from beyond the arc with each contest.

WSU made nine of its 24 attempts from three-point range at Cedarville (.375), before knocking down half of its triple tries (11-of-22) in the home opener against Tiffin. The Warriors made half of their three-pointers just once last year, hitting 8-of-16 in the win vs. Purdue Northwest on December 9, 2022. The success bumped the Green and Gold to third in the GLIAC in three-point percentage (.353), only behind PNW (.355) and Michigan Tech (.427).

THE LITTLE THINGS
The Warriors in 2023-24 are proving that its not always points scored and shooting percentages that tell the story of a basketball game. It's also categories such as assists and steals that help teams earn that important victory at the end of the day. WSU has seen evidence of that through its first four games, as the squad earned 17 total assists at Cedarville and 16 vs. Tiffin to give WSU 58 in the early part of the schedule. The team also had 20 steals across the two victories last week for 49 on the season.

The Green and Gold ranks in the top-five of the conference in both categories. The Warriors are second in steals per game (12.3) behind Ferris State's 14.0, while placing fourth in assists per game (14.5) as of Monday. Individually, Kate McArthur is third in the GLIAC in assists per game, leading or being tied for the team-best in the statistic for all four contests.

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)

KEEP UP WITH THE ACTION
Every women's basketball GLIAC contest this season (with the exception of the road contest at Purdue Northwest) 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 game against Lawrence Tech on Sunday (3 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

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

#22 Thaya Luse: F; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#44 Gabi Lutchka: F; 5' 11"; Sophomore

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

#22 Thaya Luse
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: F

#44 Gabi Lutchka
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: F

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

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

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