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Wayne State University Athletics

Women's Basketball Senior Day Photo 2024
Izzy Rincon
Kate McArthur and Becca Fugate with their families on Senior Day vs. NMU.
80
Winner Northern Mich. NMU 18-7,12-4 GLIAC
74
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 16-10,9-8 GLIAC
Winner
Northern Mich. NMU
18-7,12-4 GLIAC
80
Final
74
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne
16-10,9-8 GLIAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Northern Mich. NMU 25 15 18 22 80
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 13 21 29 11 74

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Women's Hoops Falls to Northern Michigan on Senior Day

The Warriors will play their final regular season game of the season next Saturday.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team (16-10 overall, 9-8 GLIAC) lost 80-74 in the home regular season finale to Northern Michigan (18-7 overall, 12-4 GLIAC) on Saturday afternoon inside the Wayne State Fieldhouse.

The program celebrated the collegiate careers of redshirt senior guards Becca Fugate (Holly, Mich.) and Kate McArthur (Warren, Mich. / Cousino) prior to the contest as part of Senior Day festivities.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
A pair of three-pointers from Jacy Weisbrod and CJ Romero helped Northern Michigan to an 8-2 run in the opening 2:25 of the contest.  NMU led by as many as 15 (22-7) with 2:39 remaining in the stanza, before Wayne State trimmed its deficit to 12 (25-13) following a 6-3 edge in the last 2:23.  

Second Quarter
WSU put together a strong push to begin the second quarter, with a 12-4 spurt that closed the game to just four points in favor of the Wildcats (29-25).  Sophomore forward Gabi Lutchka (Grass Lake, Mich.) was responsible for six of those points off made jump shots, while freshman guard McKenna Ferguson (Grandville, Mich. / Byron Center) also connected on a triple in what was her second collegiate start on Saturday.  Northern Michigan tallied the next eight points between 5:53 and 4:26 to move ahead once again by 12 (37-25)., until the hosts came through with their own 9-0 run to trail by three (37-34) with 1:18 left to play in the back-and-forth stanza.  An old-fashioned three-point play from Makaylee Kuhn served as the last points of the period.

Northern Michigan secured a six-point lead (40-34) heading into the break.

Third Quarter
After each squad went bucket-for-bucket with one another during the first two minutes of the second half, Wayne State tied the game at 45-45 on a three-pointer from Fugate, before a lay-up from Ferguson with 6:57 to play granted the home team its first lead of the afternoon.  There would be three ties (47-47, 49-49, 51-51) in the next 2:15, before the Green and Gold outscored the Wildcats 12-7 in the last 3:03 of the quarter to grab a five-point edge (63-58) after 30 minutes.

Wayne State outpaced NMU 29-18 in what was the highest scoring stanza of the game.

Fourth Quarter
WSU led by seven a pair of times (65-58 and 67-60) following lay-ups from Lutchka and junior forward Shea Tripp (Jackson, Mich. / Michigan Center), which served as the Warriors' largest lead of the contest.  The Green and Gold had a six-point advantage (71-65) with 6:55 to play, until an 11-0 swing by Northern Michigan turned the tide and put the Wildcats in front by five (76-71) with 2:28 to play.

That would be all NMU needed, as the visitors would score four more points to conclude the final 6:30 by outscoring the hosts 15-3.  The lone field goal in the last 7:36 for Wayne State was via a Fugate three-pointer with 42 seconds left.

TEAM STATS
Both teams put up similar numbers from the floor, with Wayne State making 29-of-62 (47 percent) and Northern Michigan 28-of-59 (47 percent).  A key difference was from beyond the arc, as NMU connected on 11 of its 23 attempts (48 percent), while WSU was good on 7-of-21 (33 percent).  Each squad missed just once from the free throw line - the Wildcats sank 13-of-14 (93 percent), while the Warriors made 9-of-10 (90 percent).  The home side collected more rebounds (35-30) and had one more assist (15-14), but the guests garnered more points off turnovers (19-15) and had five blocked shots to the Warriors' none.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Lutchka led the way for WSU with 19 points, with Tripp close behind via 18 points.  Tripp also nabbed a game-best 13 rebounds for her fifth double-double of 2023-24, while the 13 boards tied her season and career best.  She nearly had a triple-double, but fell two assists short with a game-high eight for the game.  Ferguson (12 points) and Fugate (11) joined in double figures.  Ferguson was credited with five assists to lead all players. 

LEADING THE WILDCATS
Kuhn had 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting to lead all scorers, while Weisbrod contributed 22 including six three-pointers on 10 tries.  Mackenzie Holzwart registered 10 points.  Abi Fraaza proved to be a force on the glass with three blocked shots.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will play its regular season finale next Saturday, March 2, at Saginaw Valley State, with tip off at 1 p.m. from University Center, Mich.

 
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