STORYLINES
Wayne State has qualified for the GLIAC Tournament for the sixth consecutive season and for the 18th time overall.  The Warriors are 7-18 in the GLIAC Tournament all-time, but 3-3 over the last three seasons.

Seventh-seeded WSU will visit No. 2-seed Michigan Tech for a 5:30 p.m. GLIAC Quarterfinal contest on March 1.  The only previous GLIAC Tournament match-up between the Warriors and Huskies resulted in an 82-63 triumph by MTU at the SDC Gym on March 7, 2008, despite four WSU starters scoring in double figures (Joy Nash-16, Monique George-14, Jasmine McCall-13, and Chastidy Miller-13).  MTU is ranked 22nd nationally this week by the WBCA.

SERIES HISTORY
Wayne State trails Michigan Tech 20-46 in the all-time series.  Ten of those 20 victories came in the first 11 contests, played between 1981 and 1986.  The Warriors have struggled in recent seasons with the Huskies, dropping 10 of the last 12 contests.  WSU's last victory over MTU was a 71-69 decision on February 22, 2018, in Houghton behind 23 points from Nastassja Chambers and 21 points and six assists from Shannon Wilson.  Wayne State is 8-25 all-time on the road against Michigan Tech.  The aforementioned 2008 meeting was the only non-GLIAC regular-season contest between these two long-time conference rivals.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Michigan Tech has won four in a row and seven of the last eight contests entering the post-season.  MTU is 13-0 at home this year and has a 23-5 overall record, including a 15-3 mark vs. GLIAC competition.

Isabella Lenz (14.0 PPG) and Ellie Mackay (13.4) are the two Huskies averaging in double figures, while Alex Rondorf (9.8 PPG), Sara Dax (9.3 PPG) and Katelyn Meister (8.2 PPG) help MTU average more than 70 points per outing.  Dax leads the GLIAC in field goal percentage (.538 / 100-186).  Michigan Tech attempts more than 22 triples per game and has a quartet of players who make more than one long-range shot per game (Lenz-53, Rondorf-42, Mackay-34 and Sloane Zenner-33).

Rondorf is fifth in the GLIAC in rebounding (7.9 RPG), while Dax is averaging 4.9 boards per contest.  Rondorf is the team leader in steals (42), Zenner leads in blocks (23) and Lenz in assists (98).
Sam (Hoyt) Clayton is in her fifth season leading her alma mater.  She has a 93-44 (.679) overall record at Michigan Tech along with a 69-26 (.726) mark in conference play.

LAST WEEKEND RECAP
Wayne State concluded the regular season with a split on the road.  The Warriors battled Parkside last Thursday in Kenosha falling 79-75, before rebounding for a 68-54 triumph at Purdue Northwest on Saturday.

Shea Tripp notched a game-high 26 points against the Rangers which included 10-of-12 from the floor, and 6-of-6 at the charity stripe.  Becca Fugate chipped in with 17 points, a team-high six rebounds and a game-best four steals.  Kate McArthur contributed 12 points, including two triples, and a game-high three assists.

Three Warriors scored in double figures vs. the Pride led by Maxine Moore's game-high 20 points on 10-of-12 shooting.  Tripp nearly recorded a double-double with 10 points and  game-best nine rebounds.  She also dished out a game-high four helpers.  Sophia Karasinski made two triples in scoring 10 points.

NATIONAL ATTENTION
Wayne State ranks 6th nationally in free throw percentage (.790) and 44th in defensive rebounds per game (28.1).

Individually, Shea Tripp ranks 29th in the nation in free throw percentage (.874).

WARRIOR UPDATE
Senior guard Becca Fugate leads a trio of Warriors averaging in double figures at 13.6 PPG.  She also leads the team in triples (43), rebounds (165 / 6.3 RPG) and three-point field goal percentage (.352 / 43-of-122), and is second on the squad in field goal percentage (.467 / 119-of-255).

Sophomore Shea Tripp follows behind Fugate in rebounding (158 / 6.1 RPG), while scoring 13.3 points per contest.  She leads WSU in free throw percentage (.874 / 97-of-111), assists (76), steals (54) and blocks (14).

Senior forward Maxine Moore has scored 292 points (11.2 PPG) and is one of three Warriors shooting over 80 percent from the foul line (.818 / 45-of-55) along with Tripp and Fugate (.809 / 72-of-89).  Moore leads the team in field goal percentage (.478 / 122-of-255)

WORKING OVERTIME
With their overtime loss at Davenport on January 14th, the Warriors have lost three OT games in a season for the first time in program history.  They previously lost games in the extra session at Saginaw Valley State and vs. Northern Michigan.  The third defeat eclipses seven other years where WSU lost two overtime games in a season. 

The three losses in the extra period is a change from the past two seasons, where the Warriors went 2-1 and 3-0 in OT.  If WSU plays in a fourth overtime contest, it will tie the record set by the teams of 1990-1991 and 1999-2000.

Of historical note, the program once lost two overtime games on the same day back on January 24, 1976, at the Windsor Tournament.  WSU was defeated by Central Michigan 69-67 and by Eastern Michigan 77-74.

BEING OFFENSIVE IN 2023
Sophomore forward Shea Tripp had another strong weekend on the road at Parkside (February 23rd) and Purdue Northwest (February 25th) totaling 36 points and 13 rebounds, while shooting 14-of-19 (74%) from the floor and 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.  She is averaging 15.2 PPG in 15 games played in 2023. 

Senior guard Becca Fugate recorded her third and fourth double-doubles of the season against the Bulldogs and Panthers (February 9th and February 16th), scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds against FSU and notching 19 points and 10 rebounds vs. DU.  In scoring, she has eclipsed 10 points or more in 14 of the last 19 contests and 19 of WSU's 26 games this season. 

Senior forward Maxine Moore had a 38-point weekend on the road at Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan (February 2nd and February 4th), scoring 20 points against the Huskies and 18 vs. the Wildcats.  Additionally, she nearly recorded her third double-double this season with 13 points and eight rebounds against Davenport on February 16th.

SKIPPING THE SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Wayne State sophomore Shea Tripp is  proving that the second year in college is not a down year. She has greatly improved her rebounds per game average (6.1 compared to 3.8 last year), and has already surpassed her assist total from all of last season.  Additionally, she has greatly exceeded her point total from last season with 346 points, surpassing the 143 she scored last season.

Sophomore Ally Shagena has come on as of late, playing over 12 minutes in each of the last seven contests.  Furthermore, she has recorded more than half of her points for the season in the last nine games (32 of her 53 total points scored), and has tallied 37 of her 53 rebounds for the campaign in that span.

RECORD BREAKING PERFORMANCE
Wayne State has made 79 percent (338-of-428) of its foul shots this season which is smashing the previous single-season school record of .759 (425-of-560) set 20 years ago by the 2002-03 squad.  Only one other team (2003-04), has connected on at least 75 percent of its free throw attempts in a season.  The 2003-04 squad was 377-of-503 (.750).

The 2002-03 leaders in free throw percentage were Hall of Fame inductees Jodi Young (88-of-103 / .854) and Ebony Vincent (105-of-133 / .789) and Kristen Rogers (36-of-44 / .818).

The following year Rogers (44-of-51 / .863), Young (109-of-127 / .858) and Vincent (125-of-153 / .817).

WINNING ON THE ROAD IN THE POST-SEASON
Wayne State has compiled a 7-18 mark in its first 17 GLIAC Tournament appearances, including a 2-6 mark on the road.

WSU has two GLIAC Tournament first round victories claiming a 67-64 at top-seeded Hillsdale in 2008, and a 78-76 triumph at Ferris State in 2020.

The Warriors are 0-9 in neutral site contests and 5-3 in games played in Detroit.

Wayne State has reached the GLIAC semifinals on six occasions (2003, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2020 and 2022), but has never played in the GLIAC Tournament championship game.