Women's Basketball | 1/17/2017 4:33:00 PM

STORYLINES
Eight of Wayne State's first 16 contests have been decided by five points or fewer with the Warriors compiling a 3-6 mark in those games.  This week WSU hits the road to the west side of Michigan with contests at Grand Valley State (Thursday at 6 p.m.) and Ferris State (Saturday at 1 p.m.).  The Warriors are 0-7 on the road this year, including two neutral site setbacks at the FSU Classic against Ursuline and #9-Bellarmine in mid-November.

THE SERIES
Wayne State trails 26-42 in the all-time series against the Lakers.  The teams have split the last six meetings with each squad going 2-1 at home.  The Warriors are 9-24 all-time at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena, including a 1-8 mark in the last nine meetings with the lone victory, 78-76, coming on Feb. 1, 2014, on a Shareta Brown jumper.

The Warriors are 31-36 all-time versus Ferris State with five wins in the last seven meetings.  WSU has a 12-22 mark in Big Rapids with setbacks (85-77 and 75-71) in each of the last two meetings at Jim Wink Arena.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
GVSU has won three of four since the holiday break.  Senior forward Bailey Cairnduff is one of three Lakers averaging over nine points a game (9.7) and has made a team-best 29 triples.  Senior guard Janae Langs and senior forward Piper Tucker are both scoring 9.1 ppg.  Tucker (4.7 rpg) and Langs (4.5 rpg) are 1-2 in rebounding, with Langs having a team-high 40 assists.  Senior forward Kayla Dawson has 27 steals, while freshman center Cassidy Boensch has 15 blocked shots.

Ferris State has lost its last six GLIAC games since a 60-51 win at Walsh on Dec. 8.  Junior forward Rachel McInerney is averaging a team-high 16.1 ppg, while sophomore guard Riley Blair is adding 12. 1 points per contest.  Blair has made a team-best 15 triples with McInerney adding a team-high 21 blocked shots.  Junior guard Leah Humes has 21 steals, with sophomore guard Alexis Bush contributing a team-high 47 assists.  McInerney is fourth in the GLIAC with 8.1 rebounds per contest.

LAST WEEK'S RECAP
As has been the norm for Wayne State, the Warriors played two tightly-contested games last week.  Seven games this year have been decided by three points or less and that does not include a nine-point overtime loss.

Wayne State suffered yet another tough setback falling 66-64 to the visiting Michigan Tech Huskies on Jan. 12.

After MTU scored on its second possession, Wayne State rattled off 10 of the next 12 points for a 10-4 lead with just over 3:30 remaining in the opening stanza.  Christina Green and Nastassja Chambers each had four points during the spurt.  However, the Warriors would miss their final five field goal attempts of the quarter and trailed 13-10 after 10 minutes.

India Hawkins drained a triple on the first possession of the second quarter off a feed from Tyesha Hood to knot the game at 13-13.  There would be four more ties in the stanza with each team once holding a three-point margin (WSU 18-15, MTU 23-20).  MTU's Brenna Heise scored on a jumper just before intermission for a 25-25 deadlock at halftime.

There were three lead changes in the third period but WSU let a 35-34 lead slip away as Michigan Tech finished the quarter on a 12-6 run for a 46-41 advantage heading into the fourth stanza.

After the Huskies lead was six (50-44), its largest of the game, with 8:01 remaining, Wayne State answered with back-to-back triples by Jessica Murphy and Hawkins to even the score at 50-50.  There were five more ties over the next 4:45 with the final one coming at 64-64 as Shannon Wilson hit an off-balance jumper with 28.0 seconds left and converted the old-fashioned three-point play with a free throw.  Michigan Tech's Morgan Anderson, the second-leading scorer in the GLIAC entering the contest, hit a driving lay-up with 4.0 seconds left.  WSU used a timeout to advance the ball but Chambers three-pointer just before the buzzer was off the mark.

Green tallied a team-high 14 points, while Wilson and Hawkins each contributed 13 points.  Chambers had 12 points with Murphy grabbing a game-high nine rebounds.

Wayne State ended a three-game losing streak with a thrilling 55-53 triumph over visiting Northern Michigan on Jan. 14.

The Warriors raced out to an early 9-4 advantage in the first five minutes paced by five points from Murphy and a pair of buckets from Green.  However, WSU managed just two field goals in the final five minutes of the period as the Wildcats ended the frame on a 12-4 run to take a 16-13 lead after 10 minutes.

After three ties in the first quarter, there were four ties in the second period with NMU having the largest lead of the stanza (three points).  The Wayne State defense was superb the final 4:30 holding the Wildcats without a field goal and only two free throws with 0.3 seconds left before intermission.  Offensively, Ja'Nae Williams drained a triple and Payton Birchmeier had an offensive rebound and put-back in the final minute before halftime.

Wayne State held a 20-13 scoring edge in the third quarter to turn a 27-27 halftime draw into a 47-40 lead heading into the final stanza.  There were four lead changes in the third period with the final one taking place at the start of an 8-0 run by the Warriors. Green drove down the lane between a pair of Wildcat defenders with 2:54 left which turned a 40-39 deficit into a one-point lead.  Chambers connected on a jumper during WSU's next possession, and Green followed with a jumper.  The Warriors scored on their fourth straight possession as Green made a pair of foul shots.

WSU increased its lead to eight (48-40), the largest of the game by either team, on a free throw by Williams, but went scoreless for the next 4:45.  Murphy's jumper in the paint at the 4:00 mark ended a field goal drought of over 7:30 by the Warriors.  Meanwhile, Northern Michigan had pulled within two (48-46) on a pair of baskets by Bre Gaspervich and two foul shots by Taylor Hodell.  After Murphy's hoop, NMU's Tess Weatherly drained a three pointer to make it a one-point game (50-49).  Birchmeier then had a steal and offensive rebound leading to a lay-up by Green and a 52-49 lead with 2:15 left.  After Wildcat Sydney Dillinger split a pair from the charity stripe, Green was called for an offensive foul along with a technical.  Gaspervich split the free throws and Hodell was subsequently called for a charge with 1:19 remaining.

Each team failed to score on its next possession, and Northern Michigan was forced to foul trailing by one (52-51) and only having been called for two fouls all quarter.  On the third foul in 3.1 seconds, Chambers made both foul shots to increase the margin to three (54-51) with 15.2 seconds left.  Gaspervich was fouled and made both free throws with 14.1 seconds remaining to make it a one-point contest again at 54-53.  Shannon Wilson made the second of two foul shots with 9.8 seconds left but Gaspervich missed on a lay-up and Weatherly was able to convert a triple try just before the buzzer sounded.

Green had a career-high 25 points and equaled a career-best with three blocked shots.  Wilson dished out a game-high six assists, while Birchmeier had a team-best eight rebounds.

PLAYING THE BEST -- STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
When considering games through Jan. 16, Wayne State had played the fifth toughest schedule out of 316 Division II teams with an opponent percentage of .635.  WSU's remaining opponents have a .545 winning percentage with a projected .599 opponents winning percentage, which would rank third nationally.

CHAMBERS CONTRIBUTING ALL-AROUND THE COURT
Nastassja Chambers has made an impact in her first 16 collegiate contests.  She is leading the squad in points (225), free throw percentage (.797 / 55-of-69), assists (34), steals (31) and minutes played per game (31.3 per game).  Chambers also leads the team in field goals made (82) and free throws made (55).

WILSON LEADING THE SCORING PARADE
Shannon Wilson, who was last year's leading scorer, has led WSU in scoring four times this year, notching double figure totals in 11 of the 14 games she has played (and nine points in one other game).  Dating back to last season, Wilson has scored in double figures in 14 of 17 contests.  She has made a three-pointer in 17 of her last 20 contests.  In addition, Wilson was selected the GLIAC North Division Player of the Week for her performance in the non-conference victory over Cedarville on Dec. 30.

MURPHY GETTING IN THE ACT
After playing just 26 minutes in her freshman campaign, Jessica Murphy totaled 30 minutes in the Jan. 12 game against Michigan Tech and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.