Feb. 7, 2008

Final Stats

Erie, Pa. - The Wayne State University women's basketball team (11-9 overall, 7-6 GLIAC) completed a season sweep of Mercyhurst College (6-17 overall, 1-12 GLIAC) with an 83-81 road victory in Erie Thursday evening. The win also moved WSU to within a half-game of second place Ashland.

The Warriors took a 78-70 lead with 4:02 remaining on a jumper by junior Chastidy Miller (White Lake, Mich./Waterford Kettering). However, the host Lakers rallied by scoring the nine consecutive points over the next two minutes as WSU went 0-for-3 from the floor plus had a turnover. MC made four straight foul shots, then Stephanie Prischak hit a jumper from the paint and Samantha Loadman ended the run with a triple.

Wayne State regained the lead on a driving lay-up by junior Joy Nash (Muskegon, Mich.) with 57.7 remaining. Mercyhurst responded with a lay-up by Amy Achesinski with 33.7 left giving the hosts an 81-80 lead.

Senior Monique George (Detroit, Mich./Cass Tech) grabbed an offensive rebound and her put back put the Warriors ahead 82-81 with 13.7 on the clock. George recorded a steal at the other end of the court and made the second of her two free throws with 7.6 left giving WSU a two-point advantage.

Prischak drove the lane but her five-foot jumper bounced off the rim and WSU had its second conference road win of the campaign.

It was a see-saw affair with 20 lead changes and the score being tied 11 times.

Wayne State started strong scoring seven of the first 10 points of the contest. George hit a jumper on the game's first possession and Miller drained a three-pointer a minute later. Then Miller off a feed from George made it 7-3 at the 17:33 mark.

The Lakers then went on a 19-8 run over the next 4:30 for the their largest lead at 22-15. WSU responded with a 9-2 run keyed by five points from junior Jasmine McCall (Detroit, Mich./CMA) and four points from senior Nicole Rogers (Lansing, Mich./Everett) to knot the game at 24.

Neither team had a lead larger than three over the final 11 minutes of the first half.

Sophomore Brooke Bowers (Delphos, Ohio/Jefferson) hit a triple three seconds before intermission giving the Warriors a 44-43 lead.

The second half was highlighted by large runs for each team. After WSU scored the first five points, Mercyhurst responded with a 6-0 run to knot the game at 49. With the score tied at 53, the Lakers scored five straight before a 12-0 Wayne State run. Four different Warriors scored as WSU built a 65-58 lead. Mercyhurst went 6:30 without a field goal but made five of six foul shots at one point.

After an Achesinski jumper pulled MC within one, Miller hit another triple to start an 8-0 Wayne State run which ended with WSU leading 74-65. A George jumper with 4:53 left kept the Warrior lead at nine (76-67) setting up the exciting finish.

Miller (WSU) and Prischak (MC) tied for game-high scoring honors with 26 points apiece. Miller and Mercyhurst's Loadman tied for game-high rebound accolades with eight boards each.

Wayne State has a 1 p.m. game Saturday at Gannon.

Notes:

Chastidy Miller made a career-best four three pointers (on seven attempts). Her 26 points marked the sixth time this year and 11th in her career she reached the 20-point plateau.

Joy Nash tied a career-high with 10 assists. Her previous 10 helper contest was Dec. 2, 2006, also versus Mercyhurst.

Monique George scored a career-high 15 points. It was her fourth time in double digits this year.

Jasmine McCall had 11 points, her 16th game in double figures.

The victory was WSU's fifth consecutive against Mercyhurst and improved coach Gloria Bradley's mark to 6-2 at Mercyhurst and 14-3 overall vs. the Lakers.

WSU is 7-0 when leading at halftime and also when leading in field goal percentage.