Jan. 31, 2006

Wayne State (7-11, 4-6 GLIAC) vs.
Findlay (9-11, 3-8 GLIAC)
Ashland (13-8, 8-3 GLIAC)
Feb. 2 - 5:30 pm & Feb. 4 - 1:00 pm

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GAME STORYLINES
With seven regular-season conference games remaining, the Wayne State women's basketball team finds itself tied for third place in the GLIAC South. This week, the Warriors travel to Findlay (Thursday, 5:30 pm) and division-leading Ashland (Saturday, 1:00 pm).

Earlier this season, WSU defeated the Oilers in overtime as both Chastidy Miller and Bethany Mesko had 17 points off the bench. In the AU game, Wayne State led by one at the half, but lost 89-71 in Detroit.

WSU comes back home for a two-game stretch against Mercyhurst (2/9) and Gannon (2/11).

ON THE BENCH
Wayne State head coach Gloria Bradley has a 73-80 mark in her sixth season at WSU. Bradley is 187-149 in 12 seasons overall. Sixth-year Oiler head coach Carolyn Mair is 60-69 at UF, while Sue Ramsey owns a 163-134 record at Ashland.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Ashland and UF rank 1-2 in the league in free throw percentage at 75.9 and 75.5, respectively.

The Oilers have lost six of their last seven games, all against conference opponents. Michelle Vorst, who scored a career-high 40 points against Northwood, leads the team with a 14.4 scoring average as her 85.9 percentage at the line ranks second in the GLIAC.

AU had won seven in a row until a 74-59 loss to Grand Valley last Saturday. Junior guard Amber Rall is the league's second-leading scorer at 17.5 ppg, while Catherine Portyrata, who makes 51.3 percent of her shots, is averaging 12.1 points and 5.5 rebounds a game.

IN THE POLLS
Wayne State was selected to place sixth in South Division of the GLIAC coaches' preseason poll. Ashland (18 points) and Findlay (16) ranked third and fourth, respectively, in the South poll.

THE SERIES
The Oilers own a 10-9 mark over Wayne State as the teams split the 2004-05 series. Ashland leads, 18-11, in the all-time series, and has won the last four against WSU.

LAST GAME NOTES
Freshman Chastidy Miller scored a career-high 21 points off the bench, but Wayne State fell to its second straight ranked opponent as No. 19-Lake Superior State defeated the Warriors, 100-73, Saturday afternoon at the Matthaei.

WSU junior Bethany Mesko's second-chance bucket put the Warriors up 2-0, but the Lakers scored 11 of the next 13 points. LSSU continued on to take a 19-6 lead in the first 5:29 of the game before sophomore Brittany White scored six straight points to make it a seven-point game.

Lake State, who made 16-of-19 at the line in the first half, grabbed its largest lead of the half at 43-21 with 3:04 to play. The Warriors responded with an 11-2 run that included seven points by Miller to make the halftime score 48-32.

Junior guard Cherita Smith scored five of WSU's first nine points in the second half as the Warriors cut their deficit to 56-41. The Lakers answered with a nine-point run before senior Casey Banks converted on a three-point play with 13:34 remaining. Lake Superior maintained a lead of 20 points or more for the final 8:43 of the game.

Ten of Miller's career-high 21 points came at the foul line. Smith, Bank and White all added 11 points, while freshman Gina VanderMarliere tied a career-high with nine rebounds.