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 Chastidy Miller had 18 points and six steals in the win over LSSU. |
Jan. 12, 2008
DETROIT - The Wayne State University women's basketball team (6-7 overall, 2-4 GLIAC) snapped a three-game conference losing streak with a 68-65 triumph over visiting Lake Superior (6-11 overall, 2-7 GLIAC) Saturday afternoon at the Matthaei.
It was a see-saw affair early on with five lead changes in the first 11 minutes. The largest lead was six by the Warriors at 16-10 following a lay-up by junior Chastidy Miller (White Lake, Mich./Waterford Kettering) with 11:37 remaining.
The Lakers scored eight straight points including back-to-back three's by Katherine LaPrairie and Shalyn Beauchamp. WSU answered with five straight points on a lay-up by freshman Chelsea Kouri (Clarkston, Mich.) and a conventional three-point play by junior Monique George (Detroit, Mich./Cass Tech).
LSSU followed with 11 consecutive points including four each from Alyssa VanderWal and Jaclyn Armstrong for a 29-21 advantage with 4:51 left in the first half.
Wayne State cut it to 31-27 but the visitors scored the next two buckets.
Lake Superior had a decided 22-8 advantage for points in the paint in the opening 20 minutes including shooting 55 percent (16-29) compared to Wayne State's 36 percent (11-31).
The Lakers were able to increase their lead to 11 (their largest of the game) at 45-34 following a pair of free throws by Emily Joseph with 17:10 remaining.
The Warriors scored the next eight points as LSSU went scoreless for nearly five minutes. Miller made a pair of foul shots to start the run, and sophomore Brooke Bowers (Delphos, Ohio/Jefferson) added a lay-up before junior Jasmine McCall (Detroit, Mich./CMA) scored from inside, then added a jumper.
Lake Superior scored six straight for a nine-point advantage (51-42) at the mid-point of the second half.
WSU kept chipping away eventually knotting the game at 55 when LSSU called timeout with 5:55 remaining. Kouri scored five consecutive points and Miller tied the game with a jumper from the lane.
After a Bowers jumper from junior Joy Nash (Muskegon, Mich.) tied the game for the fifth time, WSU continued offensively scoring the next five points on a conventional three-point play by Miller, and a jumper by sophomore Lindsey West (Royal Oak, Mich./Kimball) from the foul line.
Following two LSSU foul shots by VanderWal, Miller answered with a lay-up to regain the five point lead. Armstrong's jumper with 2:52 left made it a three-point contest and Miller missed the front end of a one-and-one but a steal and fast break lay-up by McCall gave WSU a five point lead. Joseph tried to keep LSSU close with a triple and Amanda Epolito split a pair from the charity stripe pulling the guests within in at 66-65 but Nash made two foul shots in the final 20 seconds and the Lakers missed two three-point attempts in the final 10 seconds.
Miller led WSU with 18 points and eight rebounds, while also contributing four assists and six steals. Kouri added 13 points, one shy of her career-high with Nash scoring 10 points.
VanderWal had 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for the Lakers.
Wayne State makes the trek to the U.P. next week for games at Michigan Tech (Thursday at 5:30 p.m.) and Northern Michigan (Saturday at 1 p.m.).
Notes:
Wayne State recorded a season-best seven blocked shots including three from Lindsey West.
The Warrior defense forced the Lakers into 28 turnovers, the second-most by a WSU opponent this year.
Chelsea Kouri was three-of-four from beyond the arc. She made a season-best four triples vs. Temple Baptist.
Chastidy Miller scored in double figures for the third consecutive game.
