Wayne State University Athletics

Michael Dubicki

Shannon Wilson scored a game-high 27 points in the win over Northwood.

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 2/17/2018 6:48:00 PM | Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Women's Basketball Secures Home Playoff Game With 76-66 Triumph

Warriors have won 11 of their last 13 contests.

DETROIT – The Wayne State University women's basketball squad (18-6 overall, 13-5 GLIAC) secured a home playoff game with a 76-66 triumph over visiting Northwood University (15-9 overall, 11-7 GLIAC) Saturday afternoon at the Matthaei on Senior Day.

HOW IT HAPPENED

In a high-scoring opening quarter, the Warriors led 26-18 after 10 minutes. The Timberwolves led almost exclusively for the first four-plus minutes, until a 15-4 run by WSU over a four-minute span gave the hosts a 23-14 advantage with 90 seconds left in the first stanza.

Back-to-back conventional three-point plays by sophomore Nastassja Chambers (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Arbor Prep) and senior Shannon Wilson (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Bloomfield Hills) ignited the spurt. Chambers added a fast-break bucket, before Wilson drained one of her game-high three triples. Wilson totaled 10 points in the opening period on 4-4 FG, 1-1 3-PT and 1-1 FT).

NU pulled within six (30-24) at the 7:30 mark on the second period, but WSU responded with a triple by sophomore Alex Matus (Millbury, Ohio / Toledo Central Catholic), a layup and foul shot by junior Paige Villemure (Flat Rock, Mich.), and another basket by Villemure for a 12-point margin (38-26) just past the mid-point of the second quarter.

After a three-pointer by Northwood's Zakiya Wells, Wayne State answered with a 9-4 run to close out the first half with a 47-33 lead.

Wilson had 17 points, three rebounds and three assists just in the first half.

Senior guard Sara Ruhstorfer (Grand Blanc, Mich. / Flint Powers Catholic) drained a three-pointer on WSU's opening possession of the second half to push the margin to 17.

Over the next eight minutes, the Timberwolves out-scored the Warriors 16-6 to cut the Wayne State lead to seven (56-49) with 1:41 remaining in the third period.

WSU's advantage fluctuated between eight and 10 points for the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, before a triple by Maddy Seeley and two free throws by Grace German cut the Warrior lead to five (65-60) with 4:56 remaining.

After two missed triple tries by Wayne State, Chambers scored on the third sequence of that possession to push the margin to seven. NU's Lindsay Orwat hit a three-pointer on the ensuing trip down the court to make it 67-63 with 3:53 remaining.

Both teams were unable to score on their next possessions, but Wilson hit a pair of foul shots to push the lead to six (69-63) with 2:31 left. Neither squad was able to connect for nearly two minutes, until Wilson drained a three-pointer to make it a nine-point contest (72-63) with under 45 seconds left. Ruhstorfer and Chambers each went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe in the final 30 seconds to seal the victory for Wayne State.

TEAM STATS

The Warriors shot 43 percent (26-of-60) from the floor compared to 41 percent (22-of-54) for NU. WSU was 8-of-25 (32 percent) from beyond the arc, while Northwood connected on seven of 27 triple tries (26 percent). Both squads were solid from the charity stripe with Wayne State making 16-of-19 (84 percent), but the Timberwolves were 15-of-16 (94 percent).

LEADING THE WARRIORS

Wilson had game-high totals of 27 points, and five assists, while tying for team-high rebounding honors with senior Payton Birchmeier (Corunna, Mich.) with six boards apiece.

LEADING THE TIMBERWOLVES

Karli Herrington had a team-best 18 points off the bench, while Orwat contributed 15 points. Herrington and German, who had 12 points, tied for team-high rebounding honors with six.

UP NEXT

Wayne State will conclude the regular season with a pair of games in the Upper Peninsula this week. The Warriors will play at Michigan Tech on Thursday, before visiting Northern Michigan on Saturday. WSU will host a GLIAC quarterfinal playoff game on Wednesday, Feb. 28 with a time to be determined later.

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