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Wayne State University Athletics

Taylor Thompson vs. Tiffin (11/17/23)
Nicole Golder
Taylor Thompson notched 12 points and had seven rebounds in the win vs. Tiffin on Friday.
57
Tiffin Tiffin 1-3,0-0 G-MAC
87
Winner Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 3-1,0-0 GLIAC
Tiffin Tiffin
1-3,0-0 G-MAC
57
Final
87
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne
3-1,0-0 GLIAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Tiffin Tiffin 14 16 14 13 57
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 21 27 27 12 87

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

Women's Basketball Claims Home-Opening Victory Over Tiffin

The Warriors defeated a GMAC opponent for a third straight game.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team (3-1 overall) won its third consecutive contest over a GMAC opponent, handling Tiffin University (1-3 overall) 87-57 in the home-opener at the Wayne State Fieldhouse on Friday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
A three-pointer by redshirt senior guard Kate McArthur (Warren, Mich. / Cousino (Central Michigan)) opened the scoring just 16 seconds into play.  The Dragons nabbed a brief 6-3 advantage after a Savanah Richards layup, but WSU countered with a triple from redshirt senior guard Becca Fugate (Holly, Mich.) before the three-minute mark and layup from freshman guard Annabel Ayrault (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) in her first start as a Warrior. 

Both teams scored seven points in the final five minutes of the quarter, and WSU held a 21-14 edge after 10 minutes.  Wayne State led the rest of the way once regaining its lead on the Ayrault layup to make the score 8-6.

Second Quarter
Tiffin closed its deficit to two (26-24) in the first three minutes of the second quarter. with a pair of three-pointer from Tomi Hinkle providing the spark.  A jumper from sophomore forward Taylor Thompson (Grand Blanc, Mich.) and triple from Fugate near the halfway mark of the period extended the lead back to 10 (34-24) just before the second quarter media break. 

WSU would extend its lead to 18 before the end of the first half thanks to five points from junior forward Shea Tripp (Jackson, Mich. / Michigan Center) and balanced scoring by Fugate, Thompson, McArthur, and sophomore forward Gabi Lutchka (Grass Lake, Mich.).  The Green and Gold outscored TU 14-6 in the last five minutes of the quarter.

Third Quarter
Wayne State was able to nearly double up Tiffin in the third quarter, outpacing the Dragons 27-14 during the 10-minute span.  Ayrault drilled a three just under a minute into the stanza to put WSU over 50 points for the game, while Tripp tallied four more points between the 7:57 mark and the 6:52 mark of the quarter.  Junior guard Alyssa Leister (St. Louis, Mich. / Alma) hit a triple of her own to give WSU 60 points and put the Warriors ahead by 23 (60-37) just prior to the midway point of the third.  Tripp tallied eight of her 13 points for the game in the period in helping her reach double-figures for the fourth time in as many contests this campaign.

Fourth Quarter
Despite TU outscoring the Warriors in the final quarter by a 13-12 margin, the deficit was too great for the visitors to overcome.  Lutchka, sophomore forward Thaya Luse (Elburn, Ill. / Example Academy), freshman guard Emily Homan (Haslett, Mich.), and freshman center J'Ahni Walker (Saginaw, Mich. / Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy) were responsible for all 12 points as Wayne State gave some new players the opportunity to play in the closing minutes.  Luse was responsible for half of the team's production in the period, and collected all six of her points for the game in the final 10 minutes.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot an even 46 percent (29-of-63) from the floor for the game, while Tiffin made 23-of-61 from the field for 38 percent.  A big reason for the 30-point margin of victory for WSU was its three-point shooting, as the team made half of its triple tries (11-of-22), which outpaced TU's 24 percent (7-of-29) by more than double.  The Warriors had 21 shots at the charity stripe and made 18 for 86 percent accuracy, while the Dragons garnered just five free throw attempts all game and knocked down four of them for 80 percent.  Wayne State won the rebounding battle 40-33, and collected more assists (13-10) and steals (7-4) than their Ohio counterparts.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Four Warriors reached double-figures for the contest, led by 13 from Tripp (7-of-7 FT).  Thompson (12 points) also totaled seven rebounds to tie Tripp for the game-lead.  Fugate and McArthur each scored 11, while Leister came up one point shy of the double-digit mark.  Tripp also notched six steals to fall one short of tying her career-best of seven.

LEADING THE DRAGONS
Hinkle was the lone Tiffin player in double-figures with 10.  Mahya Lindesmith knocked down a pair of triples to pace the team, with Richards and Grace Craig each earning four rebounds.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will have the next eight days off through the Thanksgiving holiday, before battling Lawrence Tech on Sunday, November 26 at 3 p.m.  The Blue Devils will be the first doubleheader opponent for the men's and women's teams this season, with the men playing LTU first at 1 p.m. prior to the women's tip.

 
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