GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University women's basketball team will play an exhibition game at the University of Toledo on Wednesday, before returning home to host the University of Findlay on Saturday at 1 PM.  WSU has won its last three games, and five of the last six contests.

SERIES HISTORY
The Green and Gold and the Rockets have faced each other six times, with the first five meetings being countable games, and the most recent (11/4/12) being an exhibition for the Warriors.  Wayne State triumphed in the first four contests before dropping the last two.

WSU fell 73-47 during the 2012 exhibition at Toledo, with Paige Sickmiller leading the Green and Gold offensive with 10 points and three helpers.  Similar to this year's game, it served as an exhibition for Wayne State but not for Toledo.

Wayne State holds a 24-23 advantage over the Oilers in the all-time series, with the most recent win over Findlay (12/19/2023) being Carrie Lohr's 200th victory as WSU's head coach.  At home, the Green and Gold is 13-8.

Last year, in Ohio, the Warriors fell in a 59-56 decision despite a trio of Wayne State student-athletes scoring in double figures.  Those three were Taylor Thompson (19 points), McKenna Ferguson (15), and Gabi Lutchka (11).  Thompson hauled in 17 rebounds for a double-double, while Shea Tripp notched her 1,000th career point during the loss.

SCOUTING THE ROCKETS
Toledo holds a 3-5 ledger that includes wins over Detroit Mercy, Youngstown State, and Morgan State.  The Rockets experienced a setback in their most recent contest, falling 85-60 at #21-Ohio State on Sunday.

Kendall Carruthers leads the way for UT, averaging 13.5 points per game, while connecting on 47 percent of her attempts from the floor (41-of-87).  Faith Fedd-Robinson contributes 11.9 PPG, while nabbing a team-best 5.5 rebounds each night.  

Ginny Boggess is in her second year at the helm for the Rockets, helping the squad to a 27-14 mark during her time.  Prior to taking the reigns at Toledo, Boggess was the head coach at Monmouth University for three seasons.

SCOUTING THE OILERS
Findlay owns a 4-5 ledger ahead of its contest at UIndy on Tuesday.  UF has faced three GLIAC members, winning on the road at Lake Superior 72-61 and Saginaw Valley State 57-53, while falling 92-57 at home to top-ranked Grand Valley State.

Alyssa Ziehler is the team's top scorer, with 14.8 PPG on an efficient 51 percent from the floor (57-of-111 FG).  The senior forward is grabbing a team-best 9.1 rebounds each night as well.  Three players - Addisyn Freeman, Allie Stockton, and Taylor Stanley - have each dished out 21 assists this year.

In her fourth year as head coach of the Oilers is Michele Durand.  She has guided Findlay to a 45-51 ledger in her tenure.  Before assuming the helm at UF, Durand spent 19 seasons as the head coach of Ohio Northern and was named the NCAA Division III Coach of the Year following the 2013 campaign.

LOHR REACHES 400
WSU's 78-66 win at Tiffin on December 9 marked head coach Carrie Lohr's 400th career win as a collegiate coach across her time at Wayne State and St. Clair County Community College (SC4).

Coach Lohr became Wayne State's winningest coach (win #127) after a 76-67 triumph at Purdue Northwest on January 10, 2019.

STACKING DOUBLE-DOUBLES
After not posting a double-double in the first five contests, WSU has tallied three in the last four outings.

Gabi Lutchka had the first two of the season in back-to-back games at Northwood (10 points, 12 rebounds) and Purdue Northwest (18 points, 10 rebounds).

Taylor Thompson notched the third in the squad's win at Tiffin, with 26 points and 13 rebounds, both of which were game highs.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The Warriors' strength of schedule (SOS) is .703 (52-22), which ranks fourth nationally out of 298 schools. This includes a 2-2 mark against ranked teams/receiving votes - loss to #3-Texas Woman's and now #25 Malone, along with victories over No. 6 Ashland and No. 18 Ferris State.

FERGUSON LEADING THE CHARGE
Guard McKenna Ferguson tallied 32 points (10-of-12 FG, 4-of-6 3PT, 8-of-9 FT) in the 84-71 home win over No. 18-ranked Ferris State on Dec. 6.  The junior added a game-best four steals, along with three assists and a trio of rebounds.  While on the floor, Ferguson was +28 and drew seven fouls.  She has reached double-figure scoring in each of the team's nine games this year, including scoring 20 or more on three occasions.

IMPACT FROM LUTCHKA
After not reaching double digits in the first three games of the season, senior forward Gabi Lutchka has scored 10 or more points in six consecutive games, including a pair of double-doubles at Northwood and Purdue Northwest, along with a season-best 20-point performance in the team's 84-71 win over No. 18-ranked Ferris State.  Lutchka tallied 14 points and eight boards in the 78-66 win at Tiffin.

INCREASED PRODUCTION
Senior guard Jaci Tubergen has started eight of the nine games this season after being utilized in a reserve role a year ago.  The Hudsonville, Mich., product has increased her scoring from 1.5 points per contest last season to 6.4 per game this year, while already passing her total number of triples made (six) in 2024-25, with eight this year, and dishing out more assists, with 20 so far.

After playing in 14 games as a freshman and 17 as a sophomore, Emily Homan has seen an uptick in action during her junior campaign.  The Haslett, Mich., native is playing 12.8 minutes per game, while passing her rebound total from a year ago with 14 thus far, and has surpassed her total number of points from last year as well, scoring 22 through the first nine games.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
The Green and Gold ranks first in the GLIAC in free throw attempts (22.9 per game) and three point percentage (36.9 percent).  WSU's three-point percentage is 12th nationally.

McKenna Ferguson is third in the nation in three-point percentage (52.3 percent), sixth in steals (33) and ninth in steals per game (3.67), while leading the GLIAC in points per game (18.0).  She is second in the league in total points (162).

LAST GAME RECAP
The Green and Gold led wire-to-wire for its 78-66 win at Tiffin.  

WSU started hot as Taylor Thompson scored a lay-up just four seconds into the contest, leading to a 10-0 scoring spurt for Wayne State to open the game. 

The Warriors closed the frame with a 17-9 surge to enter the second stanza with a 27-9 advantage.

The offense slowed for Wayne State in the second period, as the scoring was even at 10 points each way, with WSU leading 37-19 at the half-time break.

Tiffin out-paced the guests 47-41 in the second half, but Wayne State held on for the 12-point victory.  The last 10 points for the Green and Gold came by way of the charity stripe.

A trio of Warriors reached double-digit points.  Those three were Thompson with a game-high 26 points, McKenna Ferguson with 17, and Gabi Lutchka with 14.  Thompson added a game-best 13 rebounds for her first double-double of the campaign.  Ferguson and Lutchka each nabbed eight rebounds as well.  Thompson led the team in assists (five) and blocks (three).  Karrington Gordon and Annabel Ayrault both contributed eight points.

As a team, WSU made 44 percent of its shots (26-of-59), including 6-of-14 from deep.  The Green and Gold hauled in 49 rebounds, which was 11 more than Tiffin's 38.

FOLLOW THE WARRIORS
All Wayne State home contests and road GLIAC games will be streamed on FloSports (flohoops.com).  

The Toledo contest will be streamed on ESPN+.

For road GLIAC contests, Wayne State men's basketball play-by-play voice Kevin Brechmacher will provide audio for free through the Warrior Sports Network.  Click the audio button on the WSU women's basketball schedule page on wsuathletics.com.

Brechmacher will call this Wednesday's contest from Toledo.