GAME STORYLINES
Wayne State will begin its 2024-25 regular season with back-to-back home games at the Wayne State Fieldhouse.  The Warriors open the season with Malone on Friday, Nov. 8 followed by fifth-ranked Ashland on the 10th.

SERIES HISTORY
WSU has an 8-2 all-time record against Malone in a series which began in 2011.  The squads met six times in GLIAC regular-season play with Wayne State winning the first five meetings.  The Pioneers won the lone post-season match-up, 61-53, in a 2014 GLIAC semifinal contest at the Matthaei.  In MU's only previous appearance at the Fieldhouse, WSU won 66-54 in 2022.

Ashland has won all three meetings since the Eagles left for the G-MAC (2021-23), while the Warriors claimed the last GLIAC match-up, 65-64, at the Matthaei in February of 2021.  Overall, AU has a 46-16 advantage in the all-time series, including a 20-10 mark in games played in Detroit.  This will be Ashland's second trip to the WSU Fieldhouse having won 87-61 in 2022.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Malone finished the 2023-24 season with a 17-13 overall record after falling to Trevecca Nazarene in the semifinals of the G-MAC Tournament.  Last year, the Pioneers averaged 65.9 points per game, while shooting 42 percent from the field and 34 percent from behind the arc.  That 34 percent was good enough for 35th among 291 teams across all of Division II.

Malone's top returning scorer is junior Erin Kaufman.  The center was named G-MAC Freshman of the Year for the 2022-23 season after averaging 11.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest.  Kaufman did not miss a beat in her sophomore campaign, nearly averaging a double-double, with 14.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per outing.  Senior Brooklyn Troyer averaged 11.3 PPG and connected on 51 triples, while Nataley Armstrong dished out a team-high 87 assists last year.

Selana Ickes is starting her seventh season as the Malone head coach.  She has compiled a 96-72 overall record and was named G-MAC Coach of the Year following the 2018-19 campaign.  Prior to becoming head coach, Ickes served as an assistant for the Pioneers from 2016 to 2018.

Ashland enters the weekend at 1-1 overall after competing in the D2CCA Tip-Off Classic last weekend in Missouri.  AU visits Indianapolis on Nov. 8, before making the trek to Motown.  Last season, the Eagles advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Ferris State to finish the year at 31-2.  AU ranked first nationally in field goal percentage (50.3), and seventh in three-point field goal percentage (36.8).

For the Eagles, Kari (Daugherty) Pickens enters her seventh year at the helm.  In her time as head coach, she has a 173-17 overall record and led the team to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last six years.  Pickens guided Ashland to a Division II National Championship to conclude the 2022-23 season and is currently the winningest coach in NCAA women's basketball when broken down by winning percentage (.911).

Zoe Miller earned Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Honorable Mention All-America honors after averaging 13.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 61 percent from the field last season for the Eagles.  She scored 37 points in AU's first two games.

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 fell 101-40 at Michigan State in an exhibition game on October 28.  The Spartans jumped out to an early lead scoring 21 points before ZaMaria Polk found the bottom of the net on a layup.  

Shea Tripp and Gabi Lutchka would lead the way for the Warriors.  Tripp finished with 10 points, going 4-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line.   She added three steals and three rebounds.  Lutchka totaled eight points, hitting two of eight from three.  Tripp and Lutchka tied for team-high honors in both rebounding (8) and steals (3).

CLOSING GAMES THE RIGHT WAY
Wayne State's success in 2023-24 was in large part to the squad's ability to finish games.  The Warriors won 13-of-14 games when leading at the half, and split games (1-1) when tied at intermission.

NATIONAL ATTENTION
Wayne State ended the 2023-24 campaign ranked 26th out of 291 programs in free throw percentage (.762), 31st in bench points per game (25.1), 38th in steals per game (10.7), 41st in assists per game (15.3), 41st in field goal percentage (.429), 53rd in turnover margin (2.96), and 61st in scoring offense (70.8 PPG).

Individually, Shea Tripp was 44th nationally in steals (73) and 33rd in steals per game (2.61).  McKenna Ferguson ranked 41st in Division II in free throw percentage (.849).

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).