Women's Basketball 12/15/2018 10:00:00 AM Lauren Bryne, Sports Information Graduate Intern

Women's Hoops to Host Notre Dame College on Wednesday

This will be the first women's basketball meeting between the two schools.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball squad (5-5 overall, 2-2 GLIAC) will face Notre Dame College (6-3 overall, 4-2 MEC) in Detroit at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 19.

STORYLINES
Wayne State will host Notre Dame College on Wednesday, Dec. 19, with tip-off scheduled for 5:30 p.m. After splitting the previous GLIAC contests at Davenport (W, 70-56) and at No. 15 Grand Valley State (L, 73-42), WSU claimed a 65-56 victory at Central State on Dec. 11.

THE SERIES
This will be the first ever meeting between the Warriors and the Falcons.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Notre Dame College, who joined the Mountain East Conference for the 2013-14 season, went 23-9 overall and 17-5 in conference contests a year ago. NDC finished second in the MEC during the regular season, and made it to the championship game where they fell 81-77 to No. 5 Glenville State. The Falcons started this season with a 6-3 record. They had their four-game winning streak snapped at the University of Charleston, losing 71-61. NDC will play at Ashland University on Monday prior to traveling to Detroit.

Lauren Macer is in her second season as head coach at Notre Dame, but has been involved with the squad as a player (2009-13) and on the coaching staff (2013-17). Under her direction last year, the team set a record for the most wins in Falcon DII history and led the league in three-point field goal percentage (.358). Macer coached three All-MEC honorees and additionally had 17 student-athletes recognized for their academics by the MEC.

Junior guard Seina Adachi returns for NDC after being named to the First Team All-MEC and the All-MEC Tournament Team last year. Adachi leads the Notre Dame women with 19.8 points per game and 30 steals. Junior guard Marisa Finazzo also returns for Notre Dame after earning Second Team honors last season. Finazzo averages 10.5 points per game, with a .576 field goal percentage (19-of-33). Junior forward Jessie Stout leads in boards, averaging 6.2 rebounds per contest.

LAST TIME OUT
WSU notched a 65-56 victory at Central State on Dec. 11. Freshman guard Alexis Miller led the squad with a career-best 18 points and six assists. Freshman forward Sam Cherney and senior guard Ja'Nae Williams both snagged a game-high 12 boards for the Warriors. Wayne State shot 49 percent (24-of-49) from the floor, while grabbing a total of 44 boards.

NCAA RANKINGS
Junior guard Alex Matus is second in the league and 35th in the NCAA with 26 three-pointers made. Senior guard Ja'Nae Williams is currently fourth in the GLIAC and 67th in the nation with 6.8 defensive rebounds per game, while her 28 steals this season is second in the conference and 50th in Division II.

CRASHING THE BOARDS
Ja'Nae Williams leads the squad in rebounds, grabbing double-digit boards in eight of the 10 games. She has accumulated 92 rebounds (9.2 rpg) so far this season. In addition, William has three double-doubles: against Findlay (10 points & 12 rebounds), at Tiffin (14 points & 10 rebounds), and vs. Lake Superior State (18 points & 10 rebounds).

CONNECTING FROM LONG DISTANCE
Alex Matus can be found beyond the arc, shooting a triple. Last season, she connected on 37-of-106 three-pointers in 26 games. Matus has drained 26-of-67 triples in the first 10 games this year, for a three-point field goal percentage of .388 (compared to last year's .349).

TOUGH COMPETITION
As of Dec. 11, two GLIAC teams were ranked in the top 25 of the WBCA D2 Coaches Poll. Ashland (8-1) fell from the top spot to No. 8 after a loss at Grand Valley State on Dec. 6. Grand Valley State climbed up four spots after a No. 15 ranking last week. GVSU is now ranked 11th with a record of 8-1.

MAKING STRIDES
Following the 2017-18 season record of 19-8, Wayne State was tied-for-eighth among the 2018 Most Improved Teams, along with Union (TN). WSU enhanced its record by 11.5 games, after an 8-20 record during the 2016-17 season.

NEW FACES
The 2018-19 campaign features four new faces on this season's 16-player roster. Freshmen Sam Cherney (6-3 forward), Grace George (6-0 forward), Alexis Miller (5-7 guard), and Kate Sherwood (5-8 guard) have joined the Warriors this year. Additionally, redshirt senior Daejia Hill enters the lineup once again after rejoining the squad last January.

MOVING UP IN THE POLLS
After being tabbed-for-fourth in the South Division of the 2017-18 GLIAC Preseason Coaches Poll (then finished fourth overall), WSU was selected to finish third in the South Division in this year's Coaches' Poll with 39 points. The Warriors recorded a league mark of 14-6 last year.

PRE-SEASON ACCOLADES
Junior guard Nastassja Chambers was named to the Preseason All-GLIAC South Division Team. It is the first time she has received this honor.

COMCAST/XFINITY
Beginning in 2019, Wayne State's home women's basketball games will be aired live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN 900. Sean Baligian, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson will call the action.

FROM WNBA TO COACHING
Plenette Pierson was named an assistant coach at WSU this past August, following a 15-year WNBA career. Pierson won three WNBA Championships while playing for the Phoenix Mercury (2003-05), Detroit Shock/Tulsa Shock (2006-10), New York Liberty (2010-14), Tulsa Shock/Dallas Wings (2015-16) and the Minnesota Lynx (2017).

She was selected as the inaugural Sixth Woman of the Year in 2007 and a WNBA West All-Star in 2015. Pierson ranks 29th all-time in career points (4,258), 24th in rebounds (1,834), 24th in blocks (242), and 15th in field goal percentage (.439).

Pierson also played in 49 career playoff games. She ranks 27th all-time in playoff rebounds (208) and 19th in playoff blocks (31).

WARRIOR COACHES
Assistant coach Karen Lafata has been by head coach Carrie Lohr's side since about day one of Lohr's tenure. In Lafata's second year (2012-13), she helped guide WSU to the second-most wins in a season (22) as well as the first two NCAA Tournament wins in program history. The next year, Wayne State won the GLIAC regular-season title with a 17-5 record and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year. In 2014-15, Lafata assisted the Warriors in tying the school record for wins in a season (23), claiming the GLIAC South Division title with a school record of 18 league victories, and advancing to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.

Graduate assistant coach Juanita Cochran is returning for her second season at WSU. Prior to the start of her coaching career, Cochran played for the University of New Orleans (2009-10), Stony Brook (2010-11), and Wayne State (2011-13). She started 51 games for the Warriors and ranks 46th in scoring, despite playing only two seasons for the Green and Gold. In 2013, Cochran helped WSU reach the NCAA Midwest Regional final (Sweet Sixteen), where she scored 15 points and grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds in the loss at Ashland.

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