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DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team held off a late run by Malone University on Saturday, staying perfect in GLIAC play with a 69-62 victory at the Matthaei Center. The Warriors won their eighth straight contest and improved to 6-0 overall in the conference (9-1 overall).

WSU never trailed, but Malone (7-5, 2-4 GLIAC) cut the Wayne State lead to one point several times in the second half. WSU scored 10 of the final 14 points of the game to help clinch the victory.

Junior center Shareta Brown (Pontiac, Mich. / Grand Blanc) had game-highs of 27 points and nine rebounds for the Warriors. Senior forward Imari Redfield (Detroit, Mich. / Country Day) added 14 points and six boards for WSU.

Brown scored 11 of Wayne State's first 13 points as the Warriors opened up a 13-5 lead at the first media timeout. The Warriors maintained the lead throughout the entire first half, leading at halftime 33-24. Brown had 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the opening 20 minutes. WSU shot 60.0 percent (12-for-20) in the first half, while holding Malone to 34.6 shooting (9-for-26) in the opening frame.

Redfield scored seven points in the first four minutes of the second half and Brown added a lay-up as the Warriors held their largest lead of the game, 42-29, with 17:23 remaining in the game. Malone continued to chip away at the double-digit lead and MU's Sydnee Penn cut the WSU lead to three points, 47-44, on a jumper with 10:14 left in the contest.

Malone would cut the Wayne State lead to one point five different times in the last seven minutes of the game. Malone's Selana Reale pulled the Pioneers to within one point for the fifth time after she knocked down a jumper to cut the WSU advantage to one point, 59-58, with 3:06 remaining.

Sophomore Kristen Long (Corunna, Mich. / Durand) sank two free throws on the ensuing possession to give WSU a 61-58 lead. After two possessions by each team resulted in no points, Long gave the Warriors some breathing room. On a near Malone steal and with the shot clock winding down, Long connected on a three-pointer (her only field goal of the game) from the corner to give Wayne State a 64-58 lead with just 1:17 left.

MU's Deborah Simmers scored on a jumper on the next possession, cutting the lead to 64-60. Junior Jackie Jones (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) followed with one free throw and after she missed the second attempt, junior Ondrea Hughes (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Loy Norrix) grabbed an offensive rebound and made it a seven-point advantage with 42 seconds left, 67-60, with the putback.

The Warriors shot 44.7 percent from the field for the game, including 4-of-11 from three-point range. Wayne State was also 23-of-26 from the foul line, marking its highest free throw percentage (88.5 percent) this season. Malone shot 38.3 percent from the floor and sank 11-of-13 free throws.

Senior Lena Thomas (Bloomfield Twp., Mich. / Bloomfield Hills Andover) sank two triples for the second consecutive game. Hughes had seven points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Brown had four steals and was 11-of-12 from the charity stripe.

The eight straight wins for Wayne State ties the sixth longest streak in school history. The Warriors also won eight straight games from Nov. 27 to Dec. 19 during the 1992-93 season and Jan. 21 to Feb. 11 during the 1995-96 campaign.

The Warriors next hit the road for four straight league contests, beginning Thursday, Jan. 9 at Hillsdale College.