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Wayne State University Athletics

Taylor Thompson vs. Northwood 2024
Zack Belsky/WSU Athletics
Taylor Thompson scored a career-best 33 points in the win over Hillsdale.
59
Hillsdale HC 2-1,0-0 G-MAC
79
Winner Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 3-2,0-0 GLIAC
Hillsdale HC
2-1,0-0 G-MAC
59
Final
79
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne
3-2,0-0 GLIAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Hillsdale HC 14 8 20 17 59
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 23 18 17 21 79

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Women's Basketball Runs Away From Hillsdale 79-59 behind Thompson's 33 Points

Thompson totaled seven rebounds, five steals and four assists to go with her career-best in points.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball squad (3-2 overall) posted its second consecutive victory against a G-MAC school with a 79-59 triumph over Hillsdale College (2-1 overall) Wednesday evening at the WSU Fieldhouse.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
The teams traded buckets in the first 2:10 of the contest, before the Warriors rattled off six consecutive points - two each from senior forward Taylor Thompson (Grand Blanc, Mich.), graduate student guard Karrington Gordon (Lincoln Park, Mich. [Central Michigan]) and senior forward Gabi Lutchka (Grass Lake, Mich.).

Following a Charger bucket, Lutchka scored on a fast-break lay-up then Thompson tallied the game's next 10 points giving WSU a 19-4 advantage with 2:16 remaining in the opening stanza.

HC ended the period on a 10-4 run to pull within 23-14 after 10 minutes.  Despite the late outburst from the visitors, Thompson out-scored Hillsdale 15-14 during the first 10 minutes as she connected on 6-of-8 field goals, including her lone triple try along with two free throws.

Second Quarter
After the Chargers Savannah Smith split a pair from the charity stripe, Thompson and Gordon each connected for a basket and senior Jaci Tubergen (Hudsonville, Mich. [Bowling Green]) tallied four straight points for a 31-15 margin less than two minutes into the second period.

A jumper by HC's Maddy Greene slowed the Wayne State offense, but Thompson and Gordon again scored on back-to-back possessions increasing the lead to 18 (35-17) with just over six minutes remaining until intermission.

The Warriors scored six of the final 11 points before halftime to lead 41-22 at the break.  Thompson totaled 21 points and four steals in the first half, while notching a plus/minus rating of +24.
 
Third Quarter
Thompson began the second half scoring with another long-range shot, before Hillsdale's Ellie Bruce produced the game's next six points to cut the Charger deficit to 16 (44-28) just over 2:30 into the third period.

A Tubergen triple and a Lutchka lay-up pushed the advantage to 21 (49-28).  HC went on a 12-4 spurt to pull within 13 (53-40) with 2:43 remaining in the third stanza.

A conventional three-point play by Thompson and two free throw by Tubergen increased the Warrior lead to 18 (58-40) with 66 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Wayne State held a 58-42 lead after 30 minutes.  Thompson (WSU) and Annalise Pietrzyk (HC) each scored seven points in the third period.

Fourth Quarter
The final period began with a Lutchka hoop, and Thompson answered a Hillsdale triple with one of her own.  Lutchka then made two foul shots, and junior guard McKenna Ferguson (Grandville, Mich. / Byron Center) scored the next four points for a 24-point margin (69-45).

A 10-2 run by the Chargers, ended with a free throw by Gordon and a lay-up by Ferguson following a technical (flagrant foul) on Hillsdale.

WSU's advantage was never less than 18 the rest of the game as the Warriors posted a 79-59 victory in their home opener.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 42 percent (29-of-69) from the field compared to HC's 40 percent (23-of-57).  WSU was just 4-of-18 (22 percent) from beyond the arc, while the Chargers were 6-of-20 (30 percent).  The Warriors shot 71 percent (17-of-24) from the foul line, with Hillsdale making 7-of-9 (78 percent) of it free throw attempts.  Wayne State had a big advantage in turnovers forcing HC into 22 miscues, while the Warriors had just eight turnovers leading to WSU having a 25-5 edge in points off turnovers.  Each team ended the contest with 39 rebounds.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Thompson tallied a career-high 33 points (eclipsing her previous personal best of 23 points vs. Michigan Tech on Feb. 22, 2024).  She was 13-of-22 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, and 4-of-5 at the foul line.  Thompson also grabbed a team-best seven boards, while contributing a game-high five steals.  Lutchka, Gordon and Ferguson each chipped in with 10 points, with Ferguson dishing out a team-best five assists.

LEADING THE CHARGERS
Pietrzyk totaled a team-high 16 points, while matching the team-best in rebounds with Sydney Pnacek as each grabbed seven boards.  Emma Ruhlman dished out a team-best four helpers.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will conclude its month of November schedule on Wednesday the 26th with a 2 p.m. tip-off at Northwood.
 
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