GAME STORYLINES
Fresh off an upset-victory over top-ranked Grand Valley State, the Wayne State University women's hoops team remains at home to entertain 12th-ranked Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech at the WSU Fieldhouse on Thursday, February 12, and Saturday, February 14, respectively.

SERIES HISTORY
Northern Michigan leads the all-time series 40-28, with Wayne State's last win in Detroit coming as a 71-56 triumph on January 15, 2022, in which a trio of Warriors scored in double figures.  Grace George notched a game-high 17 points, Kate Sherwood tallied 12 points, and Alexis Miller finished with 12 points.

Earlier this year, the Green and Gold fell 91-71 at No. 16-ranked NMU, despite 27 points from Taylor Thompson.

The Warriors are 23-49 overall against the Huskies, but have claimed victory in the last two meetings.

Wayne State downed MTU 86-83 in Houghton, Mich., earlier this season, behind a quartet of double-digit scoring performances.  McKenna Ferguson notched a team-high 21 points, Gabi Lutchka contributed 18, Jaci Tubergen added 14 and 10 rebounds for her first-career double-double, and Thompson posted 11 to go with 10 boards.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
NMU is 20-4 overall, winning the last three games and seven of the last eight.  In the GLIAC, the Wildcats are 11-3, including a 6-1 mark in road league games, with the only loss coming at #1-ranked Grand Valley State on Jan. 29.
 
Jacy Weisbrod not only paces Northern Michigan in scoring, but leads the GLIAC in that category with 17.0 per game, while knocking down 42.5 percent of her triple tries, recording a team-leading 28 steals and blocking 12 shots.  CJ Romero has dished out 103 assists, while Alyssa Hill has come down with 178 rebounds (7.4 RPG).

Casey Thousand is in her fourth year at the helm, helping NMU to an 80-36 overall ledger during her tenure.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Michigan Tech is 14-8 prior to its meeting at Purdue Northwest on Thursday.

Ella Mason leads the Huskies in scoring with 14.3 per game.  Soraya Timms has totaled a team-leading 99 assists and 26 steals.  Kendall Standfest has a team-high 139 boards.

Sam Clayton is in her eighth year as head coach of the Huskies.  She has guided MTU to a 136-83 overall mark with a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances (2021 and 2023)

TOP-RANKED MATCH-UPS
The 78-77 win against Grand Valley State (2/9/2026) marked the first win over a No. 1 ranked team in program history after previously being 0-10.

HOME SWEET HOME
After playing 14-of-22 games on the road this year, WSU will be at home for four of the final six contests.  When playing in the WSU Fieldhouse, the Green and Gold is 8-0.

MILESTONE WATCH
Junior guard McKenna Ferguson is 25 points away from becoming the 21st player in program history to eclipse 1,000.

Senior forward Taylor Thompson needs 71 points to reach 1,000 in her career.

Senior forward Gabi Lutchka is 89 points shy of 1,000.

LOHR REACHES 400
Wayne State head coach Carrie Lohr earned her 400th collegiate head coaching victory with WSU's 78-66 win at Tiffin on December 9.  This includes nine years at St. Clair County Community College (SC4) and 15 seasons with the Warriors.

STACKING DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Taylor Thompson notched her seventh double-double of the season during the 89-68 win over Purdue Northwest, tying a career-high 33 points to go with 10 rebounds.  The senior forward is 49th among active Division II players with 14 career double-doubles.

Gabi Lutchka has tallied three double-doubles this season including back-to-back road games at Northwood (10 points, 12 rebounds) and Purdue Northwest (18 points, 10 rebounds), and most recently against Roosevelt (25 points, 10 rebounds).

Jaci Tubergen joined the double-double party, notching her first with a career-high 14 points and 10 rebounds during the 86-83 win at Michigan Tech.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The Warriors' strength of schedule (SOS) is .600 (287-191), which is fifth nationally out of 298 schools, with WSU's composite schedule ranking ninth nationally (.576, 349-257).

LEAGUE RECOGNITION
WSU student-athletes have earned six GLIAC Player of the Week Awards thus far in the 2025-26 campaign.

Junior guard McKenna Ferguson has garnered two, with her most recent coming on the offensive end of the court (12/8) after tallying 12 points and two assists at Purdue Northwest, and a career-best 32 points along with four steals, three assists, and three rebounds against #18-Ferris State.

Senior forward Taylor Thompson has been recognized three times, earning Defensive Player of the Week honors (1/5) after notching her third-consecutive double-double with 14 points and 10 boards at Saginaw Valley State and recording eight rebounds, four steals, and two blocks at Lake Superior State.

Senior forward Gabi Lutchka earned her first Offensive Player of the Week award of the year (1/19) after posting a career-high 32 points alongside nine rebounds against Parkside, and a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds vs. Roosevelt.

INCREASED PRODUCTION
Senior guard Jaci Tubergen has started 21 of the 22 games this season after being utilized in a reserve role a year ago.  The Hudsonville, Mich., product has increased her scoring from 1.5 points per contest last season to 6.6 PPG this year, while passing her total number of triples made (six) in 2024-25, with 18 this year.  Tubergen has dished out more assists as well, with 61 so far.  Against No. 1-Grand valley State (Feb. 7), she knocked down the game-winning free throws.

After playing in 14 games as a freshman and 17 as a sophomore, Emily Homan has seen an uptick in action during her junior campaign.  The Haslett, Mich., native is playing over 15 minutes per game, while passing her rebound total from a year ago with 59 thus far, and has surpassed her total number of points from last year  with 76.

At #1-Grand Valley State on Jan. 8, Homan notched then career highs in points (15), rebounds (six), and steals (four).

Tubergen tallied her first-career double-double during the team's 86-83 victory at Michigan Tech, with a career-high in both points (14) and rebounds (10).

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
The Green and Gold ranks first in the GLIAC in field goal percentage (.452), which is 11th nationally, and defensive rebounds per game (27.5), which is 60th in the country.

McKenna Ferguson is fifth in the nation in three-point percentage at 44.4 percent, which is first in the GLIAC.

WSU is ranked 13th nationally according to the Massey Ratings and 31st according to the WBCA.

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State earned an impressive 78-77 win over top-ranked and then undefeated Grand Valley State University.  It was GVSU's first falter in 357 days.

WSU's offensive impressed in the first half, closing the second quarter with a 12-3 scoring run for a 49-34 advantage after the first two stanzas.  GVSU entered the match-up allowing just 51.9 points per contest and Wayne State nearly matched that total in the opening 20 minutes.

After a 19-17 third quarter that favored the guests, the Lakers' offense found its stride, rattling a 20-9 run to pull within two points (75-73).  A free throw from Karrington Gordon preceded a Paige VanStee (GVSU) triple and a Nicole Kamin (GVSU) free throw gave the Lakers a 77-76 lead.  Jaci Tubergen made her way to the charity stripe and sank both foul shots with 3.6 seconds remaining to give WSU a 78-77 lead, and the eventual win.

FOLLOW THE WARRIORS
All Wayne State home contests and road GLIAC games will be streamed on FloSports (flohoops.com).  

For road GLIAC contests, Wayne State men's basketball play-by-play voice Kevin Brechmacher will provide audio for free through the Warrior Sports Network.  Click the audio button on the WSU women's basketball schedule page on wsuathletics.com.

Brady Beedon and Kevin Brechmacher will call Thursday's contest, while Beedon will be joined by Tony Ortiz on Saturday.