Women's Basketball | 2/25/2015 1:04:00 PM

STORYLINES
The 17th-ranked Wayne State women's basketball squad (21-4 overall, 17-4 GLIAC) will play its final regular-season game Thursday at Findlay (5:30 p.m.).  The Warriors earned their third straight 20-win season with a victory over Lake Erie on Feb. 12.  A win in the regular-season finale will secure the No. 2 seed for WSU in the upcoming GLIAC Tournament (March 4, 7-8).

IN THE POLLS
WSU was ranked 17th in the Feb. 24th WBCA/USA Today National Poll, after the highest ranking in program history (fifth on Jan. 20th).  The Warriors are 26th in this week's D2SIDA poll and were ranked 10th in the Massey Ratings as of Feb. 23.  Wayne State was ranked fourth in the NCAA Selection Committee's first regional rankings of the year released on Feb. 18.

THE SERIES
WSU has won the last three meetings vs. Findlay to pull within one win (18-19) in the all-time series.  The Warriors have won the last two games at Houdeshell Court by a combined nine points.  Prior to the Feb. 2 contest in Detroit, the previous four meetings were all decided by seven points or less.

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State dropped a back-and-forth contest, 89-83, at Walsh last Saturday.

The Cavaliers shot 50 percent (7-of-14) from behind the arc in the first half to take an eight-point lead into halftime.  The Warriors outscored the Cavaliers in the second half, 43-41, but it proved not to be enough as the Warriors' comeback attempt ran out of time.  Shareta Brown finished with a WSU career-high 38 points and 21 rebounds.

A three-pointer from Brittany Streetman put WSU on top, 9-5, at the 17:27 mark.  Walsh responded with a 9-0 run to take a 14-9 lead with 15 minutes left before halftime.  Brown kept WSU close, 16-14, at the 13:44 mark with a conventional three-point play.

The Green & Gold were unable to find an answer for Walsh's Kelsey Funderburgh as she knocked down back-to-back triples to keep the home team in front, 25-18.  Another trey from Funderburgh gave the Cavs their biggest lead of the half, 38-30, with 4:14 left before the break.  The Warriors deficit reached 10 on the next possession.

WSU would not come any closer than seven the remainder of the half as Wash went into the locker room leading 48-40.  Funderburgh powered the Cavs with 24 points including six three-pointers.  Brown led WSU with 17 points and 11 rebounds.  Streetman and Gabby Machado both chipped in 10 points during the first 20 minutes.

Walsh opened the second half with six quick points to take a 54-42 lead at the 18:35 mark.  Kristen Long connected from deep before Brown scored eight consecutive Warrior points to trim the deficit to 60-56 with 12:17 remaining.  Brown brought WSU within one, 65-64, with a jumper at the 9:40 mark.  Another Long triple kept the Warriors behind by one, 70-69.  Once again, the Cavaliers had an answer and extended their lead to three.

A jumper from Brown cut the home lead to one again at 72-71 with seven minutes left to play.  Two free throws from WSU's All-American gave the Warriors their first lead, 73-72, since the 16:19 mark of the opening half.  Long's third triple of the half gave WSU the lead 76-75 and Streetman followed with another triple to put the visitors on top 79-76 with 4:23 remaining.

Brown kept the Wayne State momentum rolling with an old fashion three-point play at the 3:52 mark to help WSU regain its three-point lead (82-79).  Brooklyn Wooten made back-to-back jumpers to give the Cavs an 83-82 lead and another Walsh bucket extended the lead to 85-82 at the 1:38 mark.  The Warrior offense went cold to finish the game and a free throw from Long would be the final point of the afternoon for WSU who had three turnovers and were 0-for-5 from the field after Brown's aforementioned bucket and free throw.

Aiding Brown's record performance were three other Warriors in double-figures led by Streetman's 17 points.  Machado contributed 10 points, while Long, who made a career-high three triples, also had 10 points off the bench.

Funderburgh finished with a team-high 28 points and knocked down six of the 11 Cavs' three-pointers.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Findlay has won four straight since going 1-4 during a five-game stretch from Jan. 29-Feb. 7.  The Oilers are led in scoring by senior guard Ciara Geiger, who is averaging 11.6 points per game.  She is also the team leader in steals with 46.  Sophomore guard Karli Bonar has made a team-best 69 triples and ranks second in scoring (10.4 ppg).  Junior forward Margaret Wuebker is third in scoring (10.2 ppg) but first in rebounding (125 boards).  Junior forward Kelsey Lewis has a team-high 16 blocks, while senior guard Kristin Klausing has a squad-best 90 assists.  UF leads the GLIAC in three-pointers made (7.6) for league contest and ranks second in steals per game (10.0), and third in three-point field goal percentage (37.1).

NATIONAL STATISTICS
In the Feb. 23rd NCAA stats report, Wayne State was sixth in all of Division II in both team field goal percentage (47.0%) and scoring offense (80.4 ppg).  The Warriors are 10th in rebounding margin (+8.5), 15th in scoring margin (+15.0) and 23rd in winning percentage (84.0).  WSU is 32nd in assist/turnover ratio (+1.05), 33rd in assists per game (15.6), 45th in steals per game (10.0) and 47th in three-point field goal percentage (35.4).

In terms of individual national statistics, Shareta Brown leads the nation in total rebounds per contest (14.4) and offensive rebounds per game (6.0), while also tied-for-first nationally in double-doubles (21).  She is second in both field goal percentage (64.0) and triple-doubles (1), while ranking fourth in scoring (22.2 ppg) and ninth in defensive rebounds per game (8.0).

In terms of active Division II players, Brown is first in career points (2,486), scoring average (20.2 ppg), rebounds (1,316), field goals made (861), free throws made (724) and attempted (967) as well as double-doubles (68).  Her free throws made and attempted totals plus rebounding mark are first among all active NCAA players (Divisions I, II and III combined), while her double-doubles total leads all current Division I and Division II players.  She is tied-for-first among current Division II players in games played (123 - 68 with Detroit and 55 at WSU).  Brown ranks fourth in field goal percentage (60.2%), seventh in rebounding average (10.7 rpg) and eighth in field goals attempted (1,430).  Jackie Jones is 10th in total assists (437) and 12th in assists average (3.80).

Brown has 273 career assists, 88 blocked shots and 197 steals, while shooting 34.4 percent (40-of-116) from beyond the arc and 74.9 percent from the charity stripe.

NEXT UP
WSU will begin post-season play at home on Wednesday, March 4th with a 7 p.m. GLIAC Quarterfinal Tournament game.

COMCAST/XFINITY/ALL-ACCESS
The March 4th playoff game will be broadcast live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN900.   Ryan Ermanni, Joe Abramson and Kevin Brechmacher will handle the commentating duties for Comcast.  The playoff game will also have a video webcast through WSUAthletics.com.

ALL-NEW MATTHAEI
The Matthaei has received a face lift over the course of the past decade. In January of 2014, a new scoreboard and video board were installed which features live action and replays. During the off-season, the Warriors added a new parquet floor and the sub-floor (circa 1965) was replaced. And finally a new basketball office expansion was completed in the fall on the northwest corner of the Matthaei. The new expansion includes six coaches offices, a theater-style film room and a reception area.

1,000-POINT SCORER
Senior center Shareta Brown became the 16th women's basketball player in the 41-year history of the program with 1,000 points on her first bucket against Findlay just 31 seconds into the contest.  Brown joined the Warriors after playing her first two seasons at Detroit Mercy where she totaled 1,325 points in 68 games (19.5 points per game).