DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball program (5-3, 1-3 GLIAC) hosted North Division rival Michigan Tech (5-3, 3-1 GLIAC) on Sunday afternoon. MTU used a strong second half to capture a 71-65 victory. WSU led by 10 points at halftime, but MTU outscored WSU 28-12 in the third quarter on its way to the six-point victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED-
Shannon Wilson (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Bloomfield Hills) tied the game at 5-5 on a lay-up three minutes into the opening quarter. The lead changed hands on three occasions before MTU's Kerry Gardner connected from deep to give the Huskies a 13-9 advantage with 2:20 to play in the quarter. However, two more baskets from
Shannon Wilson gave the Warriors a 16-15 lead after the first stanza.
- The opening points for WSU of the second quarter came courtesy of an
India Hawkins (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) three-pointer. The lead reached five, 21-16, after a lay-up from
Nina Foster (Lansing, Mich. / Everett). The Huskies tied the game at 21-21, but
Brittany Streetman (Warren, Mich. / Lincoln) answered with a 10-foot jumper at the 6:38 mark. An 8-0 WSU run broke the game open and Streetman's fast-break lay-up capped the run, giving the Green & Gold a 33-24 lead. Foster's jumper sent the Warriors into the break with a 10-point advantage (39-29).
- Four minutes into the third quarter, Michigan Tech had trimmed its deficit to four, 45-41, after a Danielle Blake lay-up. MTU's Morgan Anderson pulled the visitors within one, 45-44, with a trey at the 5:48 mark. The momentum stayed with the Huskies after a Kylie Moxley jump shot with just under three minute to play in the period gave MTU its first lead since the 1:23 point of the first quarter. Back-to-back triples from MTU extended its lead to seven, 57-50, with 1:41 to play in the third quarter.
Brooke Wallace (Oberlin, Ohio / Amherst Steele) split a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to six, 57-51, to end the quarter.
- Streetman drilled a three-pointer at the 9:28 mark of the final quarter to pull the Warriors within three, 57-54.
Ashley Wilson (Portage, Mich. / Northern) followed with a lay-up after grabbing her own offensive rebound to trim MTU's lead to 57-56. Streetman beat the shot clock to keep WSU within two with 7:42 remaining. Another
Ashley Wilson bucket on the following possession made it 60-59 in favor of the Huskies. MTU answered with a quick 5-0 run to take a 65-59 lead prior to the media timeout.
Ajai Meeks (Detroit, Mich. / Pershing) connected on a turnaround jumper to trim the WSU deficit to five, 66-61, with 2:33 left in the game. That would be as close as WSU would get the rest of the way. An
Ashley Wilson three-pointer with time expiring would complete the scoring.
LEADING THE WARRIORS- Streetman finished with 20 points including two three-pointers to bring her career total to 100. She is the 11th player in program history to reach that mark. In addition, it was Streetman's third career game 20-point game.
Ashley Wilson pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds, while
Kristen Long (Durand, Mich.) finished with four assists.
LEADING THE HUSKIES- Four scored in double figures for MTU led by 15 points each from Gardner and Lindsay Winter. Blake posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Moxley collected a game-high 12 boards.
TEAM NOTES- Michigan Tech used 15 second-chance points, while Wayne State scored 38 points in the paint compared to 14 for MTU.
- The catalyst for MTU's comeback was its 12-of-34 shooting from behind the arc including seven made triples in the second half. WSU also only shot 43.8 percent (7-16) from the free throw line.
- WSU's bench was strong, scoring 22 points.
UP NEXT- Wayne State will host Lewis on Dec. 20th at 2 P.M. The Flyers were ranked seventh nationally in the WBCA Coaches Poll, which was released on Dec. 8th.
