ALLENDALE, Mich. -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team (20-11 overall) knocked-off No. 17-ranked Lewis University (26-4 overall) 77-57 to move on to the second round of the NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament. This marks the first NCAA Tournament victory for the Warriors since 2015 and sixth under the guidance of head coach
Carrie Lohr. Coach Lohr holds a 6-4 ledger in NCAA Tournament contests and is 4-1 in the opening round.
The WSU women's hoops team has now surpassed 20 victories in six different seasons, winning 23 games three times (1980-81, 2013-14, and 2014-15), 22 contests once (2012-13), and 20 competitions twice (1994-95 and 2024-25).
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
The Green and Gold began the competition perfect from the floor, connecting on its first five shot attempts and jumping out to a commanding 11-1 lead. Taylor Gugliuzza (Lewis) drove to the basket for two points, but a
Gabi Lutchka (Grass Lake, Mich.) triple pushed the margin to 11 points (14-3) in favor of WSU and forced the Flyers to call a timeout.
Alyssa Leister (St. Louis, Mich. / Alma) forced a turnover that lead to a lay-in from
McKenna Ferguson (Grandville, Mich. / Byron Center). Three points from the Flyers brought them within 10 points of Wayne State, before a 14-8 surge gave WSU a 30-14 advantage after the first 10 minutes of action. The 30 points are the most the the Green and Gold have notched in a quarter since February 10, 2024, when the Warriors tallied 30 in the final stanza of an 84-61 win over Davenport University.
SECOND QUARTER
After an LU free throw,
Koko Sylvester (Toledo, Ohio / Start) found the bottom of the net on a lay-up as WSU led 32-15. Lewis notched six of the next eight points to cut the deficit to 13 points (34-21) with just over 5:00 left in the second period. A
Lexi Boyke (Frankenmuth, Mich.) lay-in and two free throws from the Flyers kept the margin at 13 points as Wayne State held a 36-23 lead. Both squads struggled offensively until the 1:32 mark when
Ally Shagena (Fort Gratiot, Mich. / Port Huron Northern) made good on a lay-in. LU made one more lay-up, while Leister knocked down one of her free throws as the Warriors entered halftime with a 39-25 lead.
THIRD QUARTER
The Flyers opened the scoring in the second half, as Taylor Gugliuzza splashed a shot.
Taylor Thompson (Grand Blanc, Mich.) responded with a bucket of her own to put Wayne State ahead 41-27. The squads continued to go back-and-forth, as the Green and Gold slightly out-paced Lewis 18-15 for the remainder of the stanza.
FOURTH QUARTER
Following a
Shea Tripp (Jackson, Mich. / Michigan Center) field goal, LU connected on two free throws to make the contest's score 61-44. The 17-point margin was the closest that the game would be as Wayne State prevailed 77-57 to continue dancing in the NCAA Tournament.
TEAM STATS
The Warriors made 58 percent of their shots from the field (30-of-52), while Lewis connected on 33 percent of its attempts (16-of-49). From deep, Wayne State went 8-of-17 (47 percent), with the Flyers making three of their 18 long-range jumpers. WSU won the battle on the boards, hauling in 37 rebounds to LU's 25.
With her 31st start of the campaign, Tripp now ranks first in program history in games started in a season.
LEADING THE WARRIORS
Taylor Thompson tallied a team-best 17 points while tying for game-high honors of five assists. She also grabbed eight rebounds. Three more Warriors notched double-digit points as
Shea Tripp (14),
Gabi Lutchka (12 points), and
Koko Sylvester (12 points) all eclipsed that mark.
Lexi Boyke nabbed a career-high nine rebounds, leading all student-athletes.
LEADING THE FLYERS
Taylor Gugliuzza led all players in scoring, tallying 18 points. Kree Nunnally grabbed a team-high four rebounds, while Jenna Badali tied a game-best mark of five assists. Badali added 14 points, including sinking all 10 of her attempts from the charity stripe.
UP NEXT
The Warriors will face No. 2-ranked Grand Valley State University on Saturday, March 15, with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 PM at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. This will be the fourth time this season that the squads will have competed against each other.
