ALLENDALE, Mich. -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team (20-12 overall) was bested by No. 2-ranked Grand Valley State University (34-2 overall) 87-54 in the second round of the NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament Saturday evening.  

HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
GVSU tallied the game's first four points and eight of the first 10 to begin the contest.  The Green and Gold notched five of the ensuing eight, bringing themselves within four points (11-7) with 7:22 remaining in the opening period.  Six consecutive points for the Lakers pushed their lead to 10 at the 6:03 mark.  Both squads would go scoreless for the next two minutes before a lay-up from McKenna Ferguson (Grandville, Mich. / Byron Center) ended the dry spell.  A short 6-4 spurt for WSU made the score 21-15 in favor of Grand Valley State.  GVSU was able to tally the final three points and entered the second stanza with a 24-15 advantage.

SECOND QUARTER
The Lakers continued to roll offensively, scoring eight unanswered points to start the second period before an Annabel Ayrault (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) lay-in and a Taylor Thompson (Grand Blanc, Mich.) free throw put Wayne State back in the scoring column, now trailing 32-18.  Grand Valley State out-scored WSU 14-3 to close the second stanza and held a 46-21 lead after the first 20 minutes of competition.

THIRD QUARTER
Grand Valley State once again began the quarter hot, going on a 9-2 surge to begin the third.  Triples from Gabi Lutchka (Grass Lake, Mich.) and Alyssa Leister (St. Louis, Mich. / Alma) sandwiched around a Lexi Plitzuweit (GVSU) lay-up made the score 57-29 with just over five minutes to play in the third quarter.   A 9-7 run in favor of the Lakers ended the third period as the Warriors trailed 66-33 with 10 minutes remaining in the game.

FOURTH QUARTER
MacKenzie Bisballe (GVSU) scored early in the fourth quarter before both teams once more went cold, as the next bucket did not come until the 7:33 mark when Mackenzie Miller (Schoolcraft, Mich. [Lakeland University]) found the bottom of the net.  The Lakers responded with a long-range jumper on their ensuing offensive possession, extending the gap to 36 points (71-35) with just over seven minutes left.  WSU out-paced Grand Valley State 19-16 for the remainder of the game, including eight points from Ally Shagena (Fort Gratiot, Mich. / Port Huron Northern) over that stretch.

The senior class of Leister, ZaMaria Polk (Detroit, Mich. / Mumford [Pensacola State / Cleveland State]), Shagena, and Tripp compiled a 68-47 overall ledger that included four consecutive winning seasons.  The Warriors extend their streak of winning seasons to six. 

This season marks just the third time that a Wayne State basketball team (male or female) has played in 32 contests and the first time that the women's squad has accomplished this feat.  The first 32-game campaign came during the 1992-93 season when current women's hoops assistant coach Andy Ayrault served as a team captain, followed by a 2004-05 season that saw the WSU men advance to the Regional Final (Sweet 16) game.

TEAM STATS
The Lakers connected on 52 percent (35-of-68) of their attempts from the floor, while Wayne State made 39 percent of its shots (20-of-51).  From long range, GVSU went 9-of-25 (36 percent) to the Warriors 5-of-17 (29 percent).  Grand Valley State won the battle on the glass, hauling in 45 rebounds to WSU's 23.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Alyssa Leister was the leading scorer for Wayne State, tallying 10 points  while splashing two triples.  Shea Tripp led all players in rebounds with nine and assists with six, while adding nine points.  

LEADING THE LAKERS
Midwest Regional Player of the Year Rylie Bisballe led all scorers with 19 points.  Paige Vanstee (15) and MacKenzie Bisballe (14) reached double-digit scoring as well for GVSU.  Kathryn Schmidt grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Nicole Kamin dished out a team-best five assists.