GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University women's basketball team begins a four-game road trip this Thursday at Saginaw Valley State (5:30 p.m.).  The road swing continues with a Monday (Feb. 17) contest at Roosevelt.  WSU had its five-game winning streak snapped this past Saturday with a 66-61 home court setback to Northern Michigan.

SERIES HISTORY
Saginaw Valley State leads the all-time series 45-40 with the Cardinals holding a 26-17 advantage at home vs. the Warriors.  The last win for WSU at SVSU was a 79-70 overtime thriller (2/20/2021).  The Green and Gold won the most recent contest (71-67), earlier this year in the WSU Fieldhouse, but have lost the past three meetings at the James E. O'Neill Arena by a combined 11 points, including one game in overtime.

Wayne State holds a 1-0 advantage all-time against Roosevelt, as the Green and Gold triumphed 75-66 in the first meeting between the two squads.  Monday's match-up marks the first game that the WSU women's hoops team will play at Roosevelt.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Saginaw Valley State has a 12-10 overall record, including a 6-8 mark in conference games.  The Cardinals handled business against visiting Michigan Tech winning 56-49 their last time out.  SVSU is averaging 61.7 points per game and are holding opponents to 61.6 points each night.

Megan McCalla is averaging a team-high 16.6 points per game.  Aleshia Jones has knocked down 36 triples, while scoring 14.7 PPG.  Lydia Meredith leads the way in assists with 74 (3.4 per game) and in steals with 60 (2.7 per competition).  Ava Locklear has hauled in a team-best 139 rebounds (6.3 each contest).
Sixth-year head coach Jenny Pruett has led the Cardinals to a 76-81 overall record and a 52-51 ledger in GLIAC play while at the helm.

Roosevelt holds an 8-12 overall record and a 6-8 mark in the GLIAC ahead of its Saturday meeting with Saginaw Valley State.

Luka Malinka leads the way for the Lakers averaging 15.1 points per game, and has connected on a team-high 45 triples.  The guard posted a season-best 35 points in the win over Purdue Northwest on Feb. 10.  Jayla Turchin (12.7) and Marie Outlay (11.8) both average double-digit scoring as well, and are the top-two rebounders for RU, as Turchin has 138 and Outlay has 127.  Jalyssa Carrasco leads the GLIAC with 4.6 assists per game.

Deon Thomas is in his third year at the helm for Roosevelt.  As head coach, he has compiled a 36-40 overall record, and is 6-8 in the squad's first year in the GLIAC.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Wayne State has played the 20th-toughest schedule in Division 2 (269-199, .575), which ranks second in the Midwest Region.  WSU will play opponents that have a combined .527 winning percentage (68-61) over the final four weeks of the regular season.  The combined winning percentage of .564 (337-260) ranks 28th nationally out of over 300 schools.

NATIONAL ATTENTION
Taylor Thompson is 33rd nationally in offensive rebounds with 3.4 per contest, which leads the GLIAC.  As a squad, the Warriors are 31st in assists per game at 15.8.

Shea Tripp ranks 18th among active Division II players in career steals with 217.

STRONG WEEKEND FOR FERGUSON
Sophomore guard McKenna Ferguson had five steals and scored a game-high 19 points in the win over Michigan Tech avenging a nine-point setback in Houghton last month.

With WSU trailing 6-4, she had a steal and two free throws followed by a triple giving the hosts a 9-8 advantage.  Later in the first period she made two foul shots then assisted on a triple for an 18-8 lead.  In the second quarter after MTU had pulled within six (23-17), Ferguson drained a three pointer.  In the third stanza, she scored five points (jumper and a triple) in a span of 35 seconds to push the margin to 21 (44-23).

In the loss to NMU, Ferguson scored WSU's first four points and finished the opening period with seven points and an assist on a triple as the score was tied 17-17.  Her lay-up with 68 seconds left knotted the game at 61-61.  With WSU trailing 63-61, she had a steal that led to an offensive chance to tie the score/take the lead.

She finished the weekend with 28 points, six rebounds and six steals in the two contests.

LAST GAMES RECAP
Wayne State went 1-1 last week, defeating Michigan Tech 66-44, before being thwarted by Northern Michigan 66-61.

The Warriors found themselves trailing Michigan Tech 8-6 in the first quarter, before McKenna Ferguson splashed a triple that ignited a 12-0 run for WSU.  The Huskies tallied five of the final seven points of the period, shortening the gap to seven (20-13) after 10 minutes of action. 

The visitors continued to lessen the Green and Gold advantage, opening the second stanza by scoring the first four points.  Back-to-back triples for Wayne State pushed the lead to nine (26-17).  WSU out-paced MTU 9-4 to end the half with a 14- point advantage (35-21).

Wayne State continued its strong defense holding Michigan Tech to just 23 second half points.  The 44 points is the lowest that the Green and Gold have held an opponent to since a 61-42 victory at Michigan Tech (12/9/23).

WSU out-shot the Huskies 41.8 percent (23-of-55) to 27.6 percent (16-of-58).  Behind the arc, the Warriors found more success as well, making 35.3 percent of their attempts (6-of-17) and holding MTU to just 10 percent (2-of-20).  Both squads grabbed 38 rebounds.

McKenna Ferguson (19 points) and Shea Tripp (18 points) led the way offensively, while Taylor Thompson set the tone on the glass, hauling in a game-best 11 rebounds.  Ferguson tied a career-high with five steals, and Alyssa Leister had four assists.

Wayne State went back-and-forth with visiting Northern Michigan, as the squads were tied at 17 points entering the second quarter after Annabel Ayrault beat the buzzer with a three-point field goal.  Both teams splashed triples to begin the second period and continued to trade blows.  A 6-4 run to end the half put WSU ahead by one (31-30).

NMU out-scored the hosts in both the third quarter (20-17) and fourth quarter (16-13) to earn the road victory.  

WSU struggled from the free throw line, making just 15 of its 25 attempts from the line.  The Wildcats saw more success from the floor as well, making 43.4 percent of their attempts (23-of-53), while Wayne State connected on 35.8 percent of its shots (19-of-53).

Alyssa Leister (12), Annabel Ayrault (11), and Taylor Thompson (11) all scored double-digit points for the Warriors.  Tripp led the way with 16 rebounds and four assists.

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. 

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).