DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team (6-7, 1-6 GLIAC) opened up its home portion of the 2016 schedule against Hillsdale (7-4, 3-4 GLIAC) on Thursday night as the Chargers captured a 78-75 victory. The back-and-forth affair featured eight ties and seven lead changes but a 27-point fourth quarter from Hillsdale proved to be the difference.
HOW IT HAPPENED-
Kristen Long (Durand, Mich.) started the scoring with a three-pointer just 30 seconds into the contest. The Chargers responded and took an 11-7 lead at the 6:14 mark. The visitors lead reached seven (18-11) with just under three minutes left to play in the opening quarter. The Warriors ended the quarter on a 13-2 run to lay claim to a 24-22 advantage with three quarters left to play. Five different Warriors scored during the rally including five points from
Ashley Wilson (Portage, Mich. / Northern).
- The momentum stayed with the Green & Gold to begin the second stanza as
India Hawkins (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) found room under the basket for a layup. HC's Brittany Gray connected on a 10-foot jumper to pull the Chargers within two (26-24) with seven minutes left before halftime.
Ashley Wilson kept WSU on top (34-27) with a bucket at the 3:13 mark. The game was tied at 36-36 with less than one minute to play after a layup from HC's Sarah Theut.
Brittany Streetman (Warren, Mich. / Lincoln) knocked down a triple to break the deadlock and another Chargers' basket sent the teams to the locker rooms for halftime with WSU leading 39-38.
- Makenna Ott opened the third quarter with a three-pointer to give Hillsdale its first lead (44-42) since the 2:03 mark of the opening period. Two free throws from
Ashley Wilson tied the score at 44-44 with seven minutes remaining. Those two free throws broke her own school record with 22 consecutive made from the charity stripe. Ott connected again from deep to give the Chargers their largest lead of the half (51-46) with 5:42 to play.
Ajai Meeks (Detroit, Mich. / Pershing) trimmed the deficit to two (51-49) with a three-pointer from the top of the key at the five-minute mark.
Payton Birchmeier (Corunna, Mich.) split a pair of free throws to bring WSU with one before an
Ashley Wilson free throw tied the game at 51-51 with 2:59 left in the third quarter. A Meeks' free throw gave WSU a 52-51 lead. She followed with a jumper before two points from
Ashley Wilson extended the lead to 56-51 with 10 minutes to play. The Warriors ended the quarter on a 10-0 run.
- Back-to-back jumpers from Hillsdale cut the WSU lead to 58-55 at the nine-minute mark of the final quarter. Two free throws from Theut tied the game at 60-60 with 6:19 to play and Hillsdale controlled much of the remainder of the period and led by as many as seven at the 1:48 mark. Following an
Ashley Wilson triple, a steal by
Birchmeier and another three-pointer from Long pulled WSU within one at 76-75 with 10 seconds remaining. The Warriors sent HC to the charity stripe where Kayla Geffert connected on both free throws to extend the lead to 78-75.
Ashley Wilson's desperation heave only found iron and Hillsdale escaped with a three-point victory.
LEADING THE WARRIORS-
Ashley Wilson posted a season-high 23 points off the bench along with six rebounds. Meeks collected her first career double-double with 12 points and 11 boards. Long chipped in 13 points including three baskets from behind the arc.
LEADING THE CHARGERS- Four Chargers finished with 10 or more points led by 13 from Geffert. Allie Dittmer pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.
BOX SCORE NOTES- WSU scored 40 points in the paint while collecting 12 points off 12 HC turnovers.
- The game featured strong bench play as the Chargers scored 44 points compared to WSU's 35 points from the reserves.
UP NEXT- The Warriors will be back inside the Matthaei on Saturday against Saginaw Valley State for a 1 p.m. tip-off. The rest of the 2016 home games can be seen on Comcast 900. A replay of the Hillsdale contest will air on Jan. 10th at noon.
