GAME STORYLINES
Wayne State will aim to continue its winning ways as they go on the road tomorrow to the Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena to face the Hillsdale Chargers, before returning home to compete against the Tiffin Dragons at the WSU Fieldhouse on Saturday.

SERIES HISTORY
The Warriors and Chargers are even in the all-time series, at 36 wins apiece dating back to 1976 with both teams garnering a 22-14 record when playing at home.  In the most recent meeting (12/3/16), WSU claimed the home court victory in a 74-73 battle.

WSU has a 15-9 advantage all-time over the Tiffin Dragons, prevailing in the last five meetings and 10 of the last 12.  When playing at home, the Warriors hold an 8-4 record, winning the previous contest (87-57) on November 17, 2023.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Hillsdale enters the game with a 2-2 ledger on the season.  The Chargers have defeated both Illinois Springfield and Lake Superior State, while falling to Saginaw Valley State, and losing an overtime thriller at Purdue Northwest.

Lauren McDonald leads the way for the Chargers, averaging 15.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest.  Hillsdale has two more double-digit scorers, as Caitlin Splain is scoring 14.3 points per contest, while Savannah Smith is averaging 10.0 points.


Brianna Brennan is in her second season as head coach for the Chargers after serving as an assistant coach for two seasons.  As head coach, Brennan has compiled a 19-14 record.

Tiffin has a 2-1 overall record after defeating Illinois Springfield and Davenport, with a loss at Purdue Northwest sandwiched between.  The Dragons will host Lake Superior State on Thursday prior to making the trip to Detroit.

In her first game of the season, Bree Allen scored 18 points and nabbed seven rebounds to help Tiffin defeat Davenport 64-55.  Megan Campbell is averaging 12.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest, including a double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds) in the season opener against the Prairie Stars.

Josh Mason is in his third season at the helm for the Dragons, and has put together a 14-45 mark.  Prior to his position at Tiffin, Mason served as head coach at Hoover High School in North Canton, Ohio.  He was also a member of the Tiffin staff during the 2020-21 campaign as an assistant coach.

THOMPSON MAKING AN IMPACT
Taylor Thompson grabbed eight defensive rebounds on her way to a game-high 15 boards in WSU's win over Northwood last Thursday.  She also recorded one steal as the Warrior defense limited the Timberwolves to 33 percent shooting (21-of-63), and just seven second-chance points.  Despite missing 46 shots (42 field goals and four free throws), Northwood had just 11 offensive rebounds.

Thompson scored 11 points and grabbed a game-best seven offensive rebounds, plus had an assist in the win over Northwood.  She scored the first four points of the game and six of WSU's first 15 points as the Warriors built a 15-4 lead and led wire-to-wire in the victory.  After NU trimmed its deficit to four in the second period, Thompson dished out an assist and then scored on the next Wayne State possession.  Later before halftime, she had a defensive rebound which led to lay-up and a five-point advantage.  Her lay-up late in the third quarter extended the lead to nine points.

FERGUSON PUTTING POINTS ON THE BOARD
McKenna Ferguson tallied a game-high 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting (3-of-5 from three-point range), while making all four foul shot attempts.  She also contributed six rebounds (two offensive) and three assists.  After scoring five points in the opening stanza when WSU raced out to a 15-8 lead, Ferguson made her only field goal attempts in the second period and third quarter.  She started the Warrior scoring in the final stanza with a triple, and after Northwood pulled to within four, Ferguson connected from long-range with 3:22 left to increase the margin to seven.  The Timberwolves were within three (63-60), before she made a basket.  Ferguson made all four of her free throws in the final 12 seconds to seal the victory.

RETURNING ALL-LEAGUE PLAYERS
Shea Tripp and Gabi Lutchka both earned All-GLIAC honors for their efforts during the 2023-24 season.  Tripp garnered first team honors after averaging 13.4 points per game and leading the conference in steals with 41.  Lutchka's 12.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game earned her second team laurels.

Tripp was named to the 2024-25 GLIAC Women's Basketball Preseason First Team as announced by the conference on October 30.

LAST GAME RECAP
Wayne State claimed its first victory of the 2024-25 campaign, defeating Northwood 73-64 at home.

The Warriors jumped out to an early 4-0 lead on a pair of lay-ups by Taylor Thompson.  Following a bucket by NU, guards McKenna Ferguson and Koko Sylvester each made baskets for an 8-2 advantage.  After two foul shots by the Timberwolves, Sylvester had a steal and lay-up, and Ferguson drained a triple prompting a Northwood timeout as WSU led 13-4.

Northwood's Maeve St. John started the second period scoring with a triple, but lay-ups by Sylvester and Thompson were sandwiched around a long-range shot by NU's Maddie Voelker which pulled the guests within three at 17-14.  Thompson and Voelker exchanged lay-ups before Shea Tripp tallied the next six points for a 25-16 lead. 

WSU saw a 12-4 scoring run to claim the largest lead of the night (17 points, 37-20).  The Timberwolves responded with an 8-4 run of their own to end the half (41-28).

NU cut its deficit to seven (52-45) with 2:05 left in the third stanza, but lay-ups from Thompson and Alyssa Leister made it a 10-point game (56-46) heading into the final quarter.

A triple by Ferguson extended the margin to 11 (59-48), before the Timberwolves went on a 8-1 spurt trimming the WSU advantage to four (60-56) with 5:16 left.

Ferguson tied her career-best with her third triple nearly two minutes later pushing the lead to seven (63-56).  Consecutive baskets by Northwood made it a three-point game (63-60) prompting a WSU timeout with 2:09 remaining.  The sophomore would score again, followed by a Leister three with 73 seconds left.  Two late foul shots by Ferguson sealed the Warrior victory.

LETTERWINNERS RETURNING
Wayne State has 12 players that have earned a letter with the Warriors.  Alyssa Leister, Ally Shagena, and Shea Tripp have all collected three letters ahead of the 2024-25 season, with Taylor Thompson earning two.  The Green and Gold have eight more players that have received a letter.  Included in those eight are players that saw time during the 2022-23 season, or the 2023-24 season.

KEEP UP WITH THE ACTION
Every women's basketball home and GLIAC contest will be televised on FloSports (flohoops.com) per the conference's agreement with the streaming service.  Brady Beedon and Joe Abramson will handle play-by-play duties for the home broadcasts during the 2024-25 campaign. 

In addition, the WSU Department of Athletics has partnered with The PreP for streaming home athletic events for the 2024-25 season.  For road GLIAC contests, Wayne State men's basketball play-by-play voice Kevin Brechmacher will provide audio for free through WSUAthletics.com (Warrior All-Access).