GAME STORYLINES
Following home wins against Ferris State and Lake Superior State, along with Saginaw Valley State defeating FSU, the Wayne State women's hoops team secured home court advantage in the quarterfinal round of the GLIAC Tournament.  The Warriors will host Parkside on Wednesday, March 5 in the WSU Fieldhouse with tip-of slated for 5:30 PM.

SERIES HISTORY
The all-time series between WSU and UWP is tied at 10 games apiece.  The squads split their two games this season, as the Rangers prevailed 70-64 at Wayne State, while the Green and Gold triumphed 73-64 at Parkside.  Wayne State is 5-6 when hosting UWP.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Parkside concluded its regular season with an 18-9 overall record including a 13-7 mark in GLIAC play.

Leading the way for the Rangers is Cassidy Arni.  The sophomore is averaging 14.3 points per game, while grabbing 6.0 rebounds and handing out 2.3 assists.  Chloe Van Zeeland and Sheridan Flauger have been impactful offensively as well.  Van Zeeland is averaging 12.6 points each contest with Flauger scoring 10.6 points each night and leading the team in assists with 103 (3.8 per game).  On the boards, Lillie Peterson leads the way as she has hauled in 206 rebounds this season.

Head Coach Jen Conely is in her seventh season with the Rangers.  While at the helm, Conely has helped Parkside to a 106-75 overall mark with a 4-6 record in GLIAC Tournament games (1-4 on the road).

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Wayne State has played the 22nd-toughest schedule in Division 2 (419-328, .561), which ranks second in the Midwest Region.

NATIONAL ATTENTION
Taylor Thompson is 47th nationally in offensive rebounds with 3.2 per contest, which leads the GLIAC.  As a squad, the Warriors are 27th in assists per game at 16.1.

Shea Tripp ranks 16th among active Division II players in career steals with 232.  Those 232 steals are fourth in program history.  The senior also appears 49th in assists (328) and 117th in points (1,261) among active Division 2 players.

COACH LOHR IN THE GLIAC TOURNAMENT
The 2024-25 campaign marks the eighth straight season that head coach Carrie Lohr's squad has qualified for the GLIAC Tournament.  WSU is 3-4 in opening round games over the last seven seasons.  The Warriors are  2-1 in home games, which includes a 70-65 win over Parkside during the 2022 tournament. All told, Wayne State is 3-7 in the GLIAC Tournament in the last seven years.

During Coach Lohr's tenure, WSU has qualified for the GLIAC Tournament 11 times in 14 seasons with a 5-10 record.

TRIPP A FINALIST FOR WOODEN CITIZEN CUP
Senior forward Shea Tripp was selected as one of three national female finalists for the John Wooden Citizen Cup.

Founded by Athletes for a Better World (ABW), the Wooden Cup is unique in that it is open to athletes in all collegiate and Olympic or professional sports.  Nominations are open to every division and conference in college sports.

IMPRESSIVE SHOWINGS FROM TRIPP AND SYLVESTER
Senior forward Shea Tripp scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds (which tied for game-high honors) in the 68-53 victory over Ferris State last Thursday.  She also dished out five assists (which tied for game-high honors).

In the win over LSSU, Tripp totaled game-best marks of 19 points and 10 rebounds, plus had game-high totals of five assists and three steals.  

For the week, she scored 34 points (17.0 PPG) and grabbed 18 rebounds (9.0 RPG), while shooting 62 percent (13-of-21) from the floor, including 3-of-7 (43 percent) from beyond the arc.  In addition to being 5-of-6 (83 percent) from the foul line, Tripp had 10 assists, five steals and two blocks as WSU won both contests to earn a home court playoff game.  For her efforts, Tripp was selected GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week.

In her most significant action since early January (due to an injury), freshman guard Koko Sylvester recorded seven steals and two blocked shots, while playing 31 minutes off the bench in last week's two victories.

Sylvester notched a game-high four steals against FSU, while also blocking two shots.  In addition, she scored a career-best 13 points against the Bulldogs on 6-of-6 from the field, including 1-of-1 from long distance.

In the win over LSSU, Sylvester contributed three steals and four points.

LAST GAMES RECAP
The Warriors earned two victories last week, first defeating Ferris State 68-53, followed by a 71-51 triumph over Lake Superior State.

WSU and FSU were tied at nine points apiece with just over five minutes remaining in the first quarter.  The Warriors tallied the final thee points of the stanza to lead 12-9 after the first 10 minutes.

A long-range jumper from Shea Tripp pushed the Green and Gold's lead to six (15-9) before an FSU bucket cut the advantage to four.  Tripp once more found the bottom of the net, extending the lead back to six points.  Six straight points for the Bulldogs gave them their first lead since the opening quarter (4-2) as FSU put itself on top 18-17.  Koko Sylvester connected on a lay-up to ignite a 9-3 spurt for Wayne State to close the second quarter.

The hosts out-paced Ferris State 42-32 over the final two periods combined as the Warriors secured the win.

Wayne State shot 50 percent from the field (28-of-56) to FSU's 31 percent (19-of-61).  WSU edged out the Bulldogs on the glass, hauling in 40 rebounds to Ferris State's 34.

Sylvester was perfect from the floor, making all six of her shot attempts and tallying a career-high 13 points.  Tripp and Taylor Thompson both hauled in eight rebounds with the senior scoring 15 points and the junior contributing 13 points.

Wayne State led for all but 59 seconds in its contest with LSSU, winning in wire-to-wire fashion.

WSU jumped out to an early advantage, as the Warriors put themselves ahead 14-3 in the first quarter.  The Lakers battled back, notching six straight points to pull within five (14-9).  The Green and Gold slightly out-scored the guests 9-7 to close the first stanza with a 23-16 lead.

The squads were even in the scoring column in the second period, as both teams tallied 13 points.  WSU out-paced LSSU 16-8 in the third quarter and 19-14 in the fourth stanza, earning the victory and clinching home court advantage in the GLIAC Tournament Quarterfinal Round.

WSU was 25-of-57 from the floor (44 percent) to LSSU's 17-of-51 (33 percent).  The Warriors won the rebounding battle by just three, hauling in 37 to the Lakers' 34.

Tripp led the way with a double-double (19 points and 10 rebounds), while Ferguson (13) and Leister (10) both scored in double figures.  

REGIONAL RANKINGS
The NCAA will release its third and final regional rankings on March 5.  The committee will select five at-large teams after the three conference (GLIAC, G-MAC and GLVC) winners are determined on Sunday with the eight teams heading to the No. 1 seed for the NCAA Midwest Regional on March 14-17.