Audio Of Post-Game Interview

Detroit – The Wayne State women's basketball team lost 76-66 to Ashland on Thursday night at the Matthaei in a game that had 10 lead changes and was tied on 10 separate occasions. The loss drops WSU's record to 7-17 overall and 5-14 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference while Ashland improves to 13-11 overall and 9-10 in the GLIAC.

Senior guard Brooke Bowers (Delphos, Ohio/Jefferson) scored a team-high 16 points while the freshmen forward tandem of Chelsea Davis (Canton, Mich./Plymouth Salem) and Deanna Crumpton (Kentwood, Mich./East Kentwood) added 14 and 13 points respectively with Crumpton also grabbing seven rebounds.

Freshman forward Phaebre Colbert (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern) had a game-high 11 rebounds while also tallying two assists, two steals and one block. A trio of Warriors each totaled three assists to lead WSU while Chelsea Davis' three steals were a game-high.

In addition to winning the turnover battle 20-16, WSU outrebounded the Eagles 40-35 and held advantages in second-chance scoring (14-5) and bench scoring (13-8), but failed to match Ashland in shooting (54.0 percent to 37.3 percent), assists (21-16), steals (10-9) and blocks (6-1).

The two teams alternated 6-2 runs to start the game and were tied at 8-8 3:30 into the first half before Wayne State made a 15-8 run that was highlighted by three-pointers from junior guard Chelsea Kouri (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) and freshman guard Amelia Davis (Temperance, Mich./Bedford), who made two triples, to give WSU a 23-16 advantage heading into the second media timeout at the 9:57 mark in the period.

The Eagles were quick to match WSU's run with one of their own and soon tied the game up at 32-32 with 4:05 to play until intermission. The final four minutes saw the lead change hands three times before the clubs headed into the locker rooms tied at 39-39.

WSU shot 42.9 percent from the field (15-for-35) and 5-for-11 from three-point territory in the opening 20 minutes while Ashland produced even better shooting numbers, making 56.0 percent (14-for-25) of its field goals.

The second half would bring more of the same as the score was still tied at 45-45 four minutes into the half. But Ashland looked poised to pull away after making a 6-0 run to open up its largest lead of the game to that point before the Warriors answered by scoring eight of the game's next 10 points to once again even the score (53-53) midway through the stanza. Chelsea Davis' six consecutive points sparked the WSU spurt.

However, a layup by Lindsey Gaut on the next possession gave AU a lead that Wayne State would not be able to reclaim. WSU kept fighting and even managed to tie the game one more time at 58-58 when Crumpton hit a turn-around jumper, but the Eagles ultimately finished Wayne State off by ending the contest on an 18-8 run to claim the 76-66 win.

Micki Kuns led Ashland to the win by shooting 6-for-10 from the floor and scoring 21 points. Ashley Dorner (18) and Daiva Gerbec (14) also hit double digits for the Eagles.

WSU will conclude its 2009-10 home schedule on Saturday against Tiffin at 1:00 p.m.