DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team (6-3 overall, 1-1 GLIAC) earned a 65-55 non-conference home court victory against Cedarville University (5-5 overall, 2-1 G-MAC) at the WSU Fieldhouse on Wednesday morning in Kids Day game.

HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
The Warriors started hot scoring the first six points of the contest as Shea Tripp (Jackson, Mich. / Michigan Center) and Taylor Thompson (Grand Blanc, Mich. / Grand Blanc) connected on back-to-back lay-ups followed by another Tripp bucket.  WSU held the Yellow Jackets scoreless until the 7:36 mark when Regan Hubert finished a lay-up to put Cedarville on the board.  Both squads struggled to find the bottom of the net, as neither squad scored for the following 3:38 combining for four turnovers and 10 unsuccessful shot attempts, before CU's Elyssa Kincaid knocked down a jumper, which trimmed the Wayne State lead to two (6-4).  

The Yellow Jackets scored on their next two possessions and gained their first advantage of the game (8-6), before Annabel Ayrault (Grosse Pointe, Mich. / Gross Pointe North) splashed a corner three, putting the Green and Gold back on top 9-8.  Ayrault's triple ended a scoreless drought of over 6:30 for the Warriors.  A Tripp free throw and a jumper by CU's Ella Sellars rounded out the scoring as the two teams entered the second stanza gridlocked at 10 points apiece.  The squads combined for 13 turnovers in the opening stanza.

SECOND QUARTER
Hubert began the second period scoring, making one free throw, regaining the Cedarville lead.  Thompson retied the score after going 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, before Emma Neff nailed a long-range jumper, giving the Yellow Jackets a three point advantage (14-11).  The next eight points belonged to the Warriors, as Thompson made three foul shots and a lay-up, along with a deep three by Gabi Lutchka (Grass Lake, Mich.).  McKenna Ferguson (Grandville, Mich. / Byron Center) went on a scoring surge, tallying seven of the Warriors final nine points of the half, as the Warriors went into the break with a 28-22 lead.  The two teams combined for 27 turnovers in the first 20 minutes and 17 field goals in 55 attempts.

THIRD QUARTER
Tripp opened the second half scoring by way of a Thompson-assisted lay-up following Tripp's fourth steal of the game.  Cedarville scored the next four points, shortening the WSU lead to four (30-26).  Points became a premium, as Tripp scored the only bucket over the following two minutes.  After a Brianna Zajicek free throw for CU, both teams were able to find success in each of the ensuing five possessions (three for WSU and two for Cedarville), with Lutchka, Alyssa Leister (St. Louis, Mich. / Alma), and Tripp all scoring to put the Warriors ahead 39-32.  The squads combined for 25 points in the final 4:15 of the period, with four Wayne State student-athletes contributing to its 12 points, and Ella Sellars scoring all but two of Cedarville's 13 points.  The Warriors held a 51-45 advantage after 30 minutes.

FOURTH QUARTER
Cedarville's Ka'Mariah Pryor had a lay-up with 8:31 remaining to bring the Yellow Jackets to within four (51-47) of the host Warriors.  Another scoring drought that lasted just over two minutes plagued both WSU and CU before each team made a pair of free throws making the score 53-49 with just over six minutes remaining.  Lexi Boyke (Frankenmuth, Mich.) started an 8-0 WSU spurt with a lay-up, followed by five consecutive points from Lutchka and concluding with a Boyke foul shot, which increased the margin to 12 (61-49) with 3:48 left.

TEAM STATS
Turnovers were the main story line of the competition with the teams combining to give the ball away a total of 47 times, the most in a WSU game since January 12, 2023, when Wayne State and Grand Valley State combined for 47 as well.  The Warriors out-shot the Yellow Jackets 38.5 percent (20-of-52) to 33.9 percent (21-of-62).  Both squads saw their best shooting performances in the third period, as Cedarville hit on 56.3 percent of its shots (9-of-16) with Wayne State connecting on 60 percent (9-of-15).  WSU won the rebounding battle, nabbing 40 to CU's 36.  The Cedarville bench was able to score 36 of the team's 55 points compared to just 12 from the Green and Gold bench.  

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Shea Tripp earned her fifth double-double of the season, scoring a game-high 20 points along with 10 rebounds, four assists, and four steals, while drawing nine fouls.  Tripp is just one point shy of reaching 1,000 career points.  Gabi Lutchka connected on 3-of-8 from downtown (4-of-12 overall from the field) for 11 points, pulled down five boards and forced three Cedarville turnovers.  Taylor Thompson led the squad in rebounds with 11, her fourth double-digit rebounding performance on the year.  Lexi Boyke shot a perfect 3-of-3 from the floor and went 1-of-2 from the foul line for seven points.  Alyssa Leister dished out a game-best five assists.

LEADING THE YELLOW JACKETS
Ella Sellars shot 5-of-10 from the floor for a team-high 13 points, while coming off of the CU bench.  Mya Bourget connected on 5-of-11 shot attempts, finishing the game with 11 points.  Brianna Zajicek led Cedarville with seven rebounds, while Ka'Miah Pryor totaled a game-high five steals.

UP NEXT
The Wayne State University women's baketball squad will conclude the 2024 portion of its schedule by going on the road to face Findlay in the Croy Gymnasium on Saturday, December 21 with a 1:00 PM tip.