Boxscore

Edinboro, Pa. -- The Wayne State University women's basketball squad (0-2 overall) battled 15th-ranked Edinboro (2-1 overall) nearly even the entire contest but fell 77-74 to the Fighting Scots in WSU's first road game of the season.

The Warriors held advantages in points in the paint (40-38), points off turnovers (18-15), fast-break points (18-12) and bench points (32-27) while EU led in second-chance points (14-10).

The contest was tied six times, including three ocasions in the first eight minutes of the game the last coming at 13-13 on a lay-up by senior Phaebre Colbert (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Forest Hills Northern) at the 12:14 mark.  The Fighting Scots scored the next seven points and WSU was not able to get closer than three points the rest of the first half.  EU led by as many as 10 on two separate occasions (30-20; and at halftime 44-34).

Edinboro's last 10 points of the first half came from the charity stripe as 26 fouls were whistled in the opening 20 minutes.  WSU senior center Juanita Cochran (Saginaw, Mich. / Arthur Hill) was limited to one rebound in three minutes during the first half in which she was called for three fouls.  Despite not having a down low presence, the Warriors held a 27-24 rebounding edge in the first half.

The Fighting Scots answered a Kayla Bridges (Canton, Mich.) basket with a fast-break lay-up from Samantha Blazetic to re-gain its 10-point advantage (46-36) at the 18:34 mark.

Back-to-back Warrior hoops by Kayla Bridges and Talisha Bridges (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Loy Norrix) pulled WSU within six at 46-40, but that would be as close as Wayne State would get for the next five minutes until a triple by senior guard Paige Sickmiller (Romeo, Mich.), and free throws by junior guard Lena Thomas (Bloomfield Twp., Mich. / Bloomfield Hills Andover) and Kayla Bridges made it a four-point game (53-49) at the 12:07 mark.

A 6-1 run by the Fighting Scots gave the hosts a 59-50 advantage with 10:53 to play.  A lay-up Colbert and another three-pointer by Sickmiller cut the deficit to four.  EU took a 65-59 lead on a jumper by Kerry Connolly at the 6:49 mark, but Cochran sank a pair of free throws and Talisha Bridges scored from inside to make it a two-point game (65-63) with 5:37 remaining.

A Blazetic hoop was answered with two foul shots from Sickmiller and a traditional three-point play by Cochran which gave the Warriors a 68-67 lead with 4:55 left.  It was WSU's first lead since 11-9.

After another Blazetic basket, Talisha Bridges split a pair from the foul line to knot the game at 69.  Bridges then made two free throws at the 3:06 mark to tie the contest at 71 with 3:06 remaining.  EU's Kiara Brown made four consecutive foul shots sandwiched around a pair of WSU turnovers giving the hosts a 75-71 lead.  A Blazetic jumped capped the 6-0 run by the Fighting Scots.

Talisha Bridges made the first free throw attempt, then Colbert grabbed the rebound and put it back in cutting the Warrior deficit to three (77-74) with 39 seconds left.  Edinboro missed a jumper in the final 10 seconds and Brittany Streetman's (Warren, Mich. / Lincoln) three-point attempt at the buzzer was partially blocked.

Sickmiller finished with game-high totals of 22 points and nine rebounds.  She also contributed three assists and three steals.  Colbert tallied 18 points, while Kayla Bridges had eight rebounds and five points.

Blazetic led Edinboro with 21 points and seven rebounds, while Brown and Connolly scored 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Wayne State begins league play on Thursday with an 8 p.m. tip-off at Tiffin.