DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team (18-10 overall, 13-7 GLIAC) defeated Lake Superior State University (5-23 overall, 2-18 GLIAC) 71-51 in the team's final regular-season game on Saturday afternoon. The win marks the 11th at the WSU Fieldhouse this season which is the most since the 2014-15 campaign when WSU finished 14-2 on its home court (Matthaei Center).
Prior to the start of the contest, Wayne State honored its four seniors,
Alyssa Leister (St. Louis, Mich. / Alma),
ZaMaria Polk (Detroit, Mich. / Mumford [Pensacola State / Cleveland State]),
Ally Shagena (Fort Gratiot, / Mich. Port Huron Northern), and
Shea Tripp (Jackson, Mich. / Michigan Center).
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
Leister drained a triple after a Shagena steal to begin the game's scoring. LSSU's CeCe Hacker matched with a three of her own to knot the game. On the following WSU possession, Polk made her way to the basket while fighting through contact for a chance at an old fashioned three-point play. The senior made her attempt at the line giving Wayne State a 6-3 advantage. Polk netted another bucket followed by long-range jumpers from
Gabi Lutchka (Grass Lake, Mich.) and Shagena increasing the Warrior lead to 11 (14-3). Back-to-back triples by Lake Superior pulled the Lakers within five at 14-9. The squads battled back-and-forth for the remainder of the quarter with the hosts out-scoring LSSU 9-7 to close the first period ahead 23-16.
SECOND QUARTER
Gracey Metz (LSSU) found the botton of the net with a lay-up (23-18), but five straight points from Tripp pushed the WSU lead to nine (27-18) with just under seven minutes to play in the second stanza. Seven consecutive points for the visitors made it a two-point game (27-25), before the Green and Gold gave themselves a small cushion by tallying the next five points. Both teams notched four more points in the period, with WSU entering the halftime break leading 36-29.
THIRD QUARTER
A free throw by Hacker began the scoring nearly two minutes into the third period. Tripp and Grace Bradford traded lay-ins before a short scoring drought from both squads.
McKenna Ferguson (Grandville, Mich. / Byron Center) ended the previously mentioned dry spell by knocking down a three giving the hosts a nine-point margin (41-32). Hacker made a jumper on the next possession, but another triple from Ferguson put Wayne State ahead by 10. The Warriors out-paced Lake Superior State 8-3 to end the quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER
The Green and Gold continued to roll on offense, tallying seven of the first nine points of the final stanza. A short 5-0 spurt for LSSU brought them within 15 (59-44), but a 12-7 run for WSU secured the Senior Day win for Wayne State.
TEAM STATS
Wayne State made 44 percent of its shots (25-of-57) to LSSU's 33 percent (17-of-51). WSU was 8-of-17 (47 percent) from deep, while the Lakers connected on 7-of-20 (35 percent) three-point shots. The Green and Gold slightly edged out Lake Superior State in the rebounding battle, hauling in 37 boards to the LSSU's 34. Wayne State held the lead for all but 0:59 and never trailed.
LEADING THE WARRIORS
Shea Tripp captured a double-double with game-bests in both points (19) and rebounds (10) along with game-highs in assists (five), steals (three) and blocks (two).
Alyssa Leister (10) and
McKenna Ferguson (13) both surpassed double-digit scoring.
LEADING THE LAKERS
Breah Golden (17) and CeCe Hacker (10) were the only two LSSU student-athletes to eclipse double-figure scoring. Grace Bradford nabbed a team-high nine boards, while Golden led the Lakers in assists with four.
UP NEXT
The Wayne State women's hoops team has its eyes set on the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament, as the Warriors will play host to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside on Wednesday, March 5, with tip-off slated for 5:30 PM in the WSU Fieldhouse.
