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 Monique George had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds at Hillsdale. |
March 1, 2008
Hillsdale, Mich. - The Wayne State University women's basketball team (15-11 overall), the No. 8 seed in the GLIAC tournament, recorded a 67-64 road victory at top-seeded Hillsdale College (23-4) Saturday afternoon in a GLIAC quarterfinal contest. The Chargers were ranked second in the region and 18th nationally this past week.
WSU's last win at HC was on Jan. 30, 1995 as the Warriors had suffered 14 consecutive setbacks at Philips Arena. Meanwhile, the Chargers had a 16-game home court winning streak dating back to December 2006.
Wayne State scored the first seven points of the game and never trailed until 4:43 was left in the game following a basket by Katie Cezat, who led all scorers with 34 points. WSU's open scoring barrage included a bucket by junior Joy Nash (Muskegon, Mich.), a three-pointer by junior Jasmine McCall (Detroit, Mich./CMA) and two free throws by senior Monique George (Detroit, Mich./Cass Tech).
WSU's lead remained between three and seven until a HC lay-up cut the Warrior lead to 13-12, but sophomore Brooke Bowers (Delphos, Ohio/Jefferson) scored five consecutive points on a triple and a jumper and junior Chastidy Miller (White Lake, Mich./Waterford Kettering) added another bucket for a 20-12 advantage.
Wayne State led between seven and 10 points until a 9-2 Hillsdale run cut the Warrior lead to three at 26-23.
WSU led 32-28 at halftime on the strength of solid defense. The Warriors shots 45 percent (13-29) in the opening 20 minutes to 38 percent (11-29) for the Chargers. Wayne State also had a 22-14 edge in rebounding.
The Warriors opened the second half on an 8-2 run as Miller hit two triples sandwiched around a McCall bucket. WSU led 42-31 following a jumper by Nash at the 16:50 mark but Hillsdale scored the next seven points before Miller split a pair from the foul line. On WSU's ensuing possession, sophomore Lindsey West (Royal Oak, Mich./Kimball) made two foul shots for a seven point lead which would be the visitors largest the rest of the contest.
Another Miller triple, her third of the second half, at the 8:48 mark made it 50-44 WSU. Hillsdale scored four straight points until a lay-up by McCall at the 7:17 mark.
With 6:11 on the clock, George made the front end of one-and-the-bonus for a 55-52 Wayne State lead. Two free throws and the aforementioned Cezat lay-up (4:43) put the Chargers ahead 56-55.
George made two foul shots then grabbed a defensive rebound leading to a McCall lay-up and a 59-56 Warrior advantage. HC's Janay Miller made two free throws and Cezat hit a jumper in a span of 35 seconds putting the Chargers ahead 60-59 with 2:22 remaining.
George scored on an easy lay-up from McCall after Jasmine grabbed the rebound of her own missed shot with 1:52 left. Back-to-back Hillsdale turnovers preceded a McCall triple from Nash putting the Warriors ahead 64-60 with 33 seconds remaining.
An offensive put back by HC's Julie Slot made it a two-point game (64-62) with 27 seconds left. McCall was fouled after catching the inbounds pass with 24.4 second remaining. She made the front end of the double bonus for a three-point lead. Hillsdale's Brooke Knight scored an uncontested lay-up with 10.8 left and McCall was again fouled on the inbouds. She made the front end for a two-point lead (66-64). Miller missed a shot from the paint and George grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 2.5 seconds remaining.
George sealed WSU's first playoff road victory, since a March 5, 1981, win (70-64) at Central Michigan, by making the first of two with McCall grabbing the offensive rebound as the clock expired.
George and McCall each had 16 points for the Warriors with McCall grabbing a team-best 13 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Miller added 14 points. Cezat had a game-high 16 rebounds. WSU had 15 offensive rebounds including five by George.
Wayne State will be the No. 4 seed for the GLIAC Semifinals which will be played on Friday, March 7 at the SDC Gym in Houghton. The Warriors will face Michigan Tech at 6 p.m.
Notes:
Gloria Bradley is 2-6 in GLIAC tournament games and 1-4 in conference road playoff games. The first two years Bradley guided the Warriors into the GLIAC post-season the tournament was held in Grand Rapids at the DeltaPlex.
WSU's victory evened the all-time series at 29 wins apiece with Hillsdale.
Wayne State is 11-0 when leading at halftime
