GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University women's basketball team will hit the road again to face Purdue University Northwest and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.  The Warriors will first play the PNW Pride on January 30 at 6:00 PM (ET), followed by a contest at UWP with tip-off slated for 2:00 PM (ET) on February 1.

SERIES HISTORY
The Warriors lead the all-time series against PNW 14-1, including a 7-1 ledger in games in Hammond.  Along with the series lead, the Green and Gold have won seven straight games against Purdue Northwest including a 98-54 home court victory earlier this year (1/11/2025). 

Parkside holds a 10-9 advantage in the all-time series, and has won four of the last five meetings.  When playing in Kenosha, WSU has a record of 3-4.  The Rangers prevailed in the previous meeting 70-64 (1/9/2025) in Detroit.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
The Pride own a 5-13 overall record that includes a 2-8 ledger against GLIAC opponents.  PNW split its last two contests, defeating Davenport 69-66 before falling 106-47 at top-ranked Grand Valley State.

Alyssa Cole leads the way for Purdue Northwest on the offensive side of the court.  The junior is averaging 11.7 points per game, while hauling in a team-best 128 rebounds (7.1 each contest), and is second in the GLIAC with 44 offensive boards.  Dishing out a squad-high 63 assists is Nessa Walsh.  Her 3.7 assists per game ranks fourth in the GLIAC.  Alyssa Baker (10.4 PPG) has a team-best 27 steals, while Cherrelle Newsom has connected on a team-high 45 triples.

First year head coach Jesse Ford has compiled a 5-13 record at PNW.  He spent three seasons as the head coach at Indiana Northwest before taking the position with the Pride.
 
Through 17 games, Parkside has compiled an 11-6 mark that includes a 6-4 record in conference play, which is tied-for-fourth in the GLIAC with Wayne State. 

The Rangers have four different players that are averaging double-digit points in Cassidy Arni (13.5), Sheridan Flauger (10.4), Peighton Nelson (10.2), and Chloe Van Zeeland (10.1).  Flauger in the conference's leader in assists per game, averaging 4.1 each night.

Lillie Petersen has hauled in a team-best 116 rebounds  (6.8 RPG, with Arni grabbing the second most on the team (112).

Seventh-year head coach Jen Conely has compiled a 99-72 overall mark, including a 72-53 in GLIAC record.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Wayne State has played the 14th-toughest schedule in Division 2 (190-132, .590), which ranks second in the Midwest Region.  WSU will play opponents that have a combined .526 winning percentage (91-82) over the final five weeks of the regular season.  The combined winning percentage of .568 (281-214) ranks 33rd nationally out of over 300 schools.

NATIONAL ATTENTION
Forwards Shea Tripp and Taylor Thompson both appear in the top 50 of Division II in double-doubles, as the two are tied-for-44th with six apiece.  Thompson is top 50 nationally in offensive rebounds per game (27th with 3.7) and rebounds per game (50th with 8.9).  Her 3.7 offensive rebounds per game leads the GLIAC.  As a squad, the Warriors are 33rd in assists per game at 15.7 and 46th in three throws made per game with 14.28, which leads the GLIAC.

Tripp is also 19th among active Division II players in career steals with 210 and 36th in free throw percentage (.796).  Those 210 steals rank seventh in program history.

WARRIORS RESILIENT AT HOME
The recent win against Roosevelt marked the second straight, and third time this season, that WSU has battled back from a double-digit deficit and won.  The Green and Gold accomplished this against Edinboro (12/11/2024), Saginaw Valley State (1/23/2025), and now Roosevelt (1/27/2025).  All three wins have been at the WSU Fieldhouse, with Wayne State owning an 8-4 mark when playing at home.

CAREER PERFORMANCE FROM LUTCHKA
Gabi Lutchka had a career-best in both points (30), and rebounds (13) in the win against Roosevelt.  The junior became the first WSU women's basketball player to score 30 points since Grace George notched 34 in a loss to Ferris State (1/29/2022).  The double-double marked the third of her career, and her first of the 2024-25 season.

LAST GAMES RECAP
The Warriors earned two wins, as they prevailed 71-67 over Saginaw Valley State, and defeated Roosevelt 75-66.

WSU trailed by as much as 11 points against Saginaw Valley State before a late 14-2 spurt in the second quarter that was capped off by three straight buckets from Shea Tripp.  The senior netted a jumper with under 10 seconds remaining in the half, putting the Warriors ahead (37-36) for the first time in the contest.  

Alyssa Leister continued the high-octane offense, as she splashed a triple for the first points of the second half.  The Green and Gold owned the lead for all but 1:06 in the final 20 minutes of action, and never trailed (tied twice).

Taylor Thompson led WSU in scoring, tallying 17 points while adding seven boards and three assists.  Tripp finished with a game-best eight rebounds, and notched 16 points.  Gabi Lutchka had 12 points, and tied a game-high with three steals.  Coming off of the bench, Annabel Ayrault contributed eight points, dished out three assists, hauled in three rebounds, and had a crucial diving steal under the basket early in the fourth stanza that led to a long-range jumper from Leister, a potential five-point swing.

The Warriors once again found themselves in a double-digit deficit, as they trailed Roosevelt 27-17 with just under eight minutes remaining in the second quarter.  Wayne State out-paced the Lakers 23-11 for the remainder of the period, including a buzzer-beating lay-up from Mackenzie Miller which put the Green and Gold ahead 40-38.  

RU scored the first points of the third quarter, tying the contest at 40 apiece.  The next six points belonged to WSU and the Warriors did not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the game.

Both squads made 26 of their shot attempts (WSU 26-of-69, and RU 26-of-60), with the Lakers connecting on more triples (9-of-23) than Wayne State (7-of-24).  The Warriors owned the glass, out-rebounding Roosevelt 48-32, including 20 offensive boards.  The Green and Gold finished with more free throws made (16-of-23) than RU attempted (5-of-7).

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.

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).