Feb. 8, 2006

Wayne State (7-13, 4-8 GLIAC) vs.
Mercyhurst (7-15, 3-9 GLIAC)
Gannon (10-12, 5-7 GLIAC)
Feb. 9 - 5:30 pm & Feb. 11 - 1:00 pm

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GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State women's basketball team looks to snap its four-game losing skid as the Warriors host GLIAC South rivals Mercyhurst (Thursday) and Gannon (Saturday) this week. WSU went 1-1 against the Erie, Pa., teams on the road back in December as the Lakers defeated Wayne State, 90-89, in an overtime contest, while Nicole Rogers recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in a 66-62 win at GU.

Kristen Rogers has played in 102 games for the Green & Gold. With six regular-season games remaining, Rogers is set to move into a tie-for-fifth all-time. She has also accumulated 958 points over her four-year career, and needs to average 7.0 points over the next six games to become the 13th player in WSU history to reach the century mark.

Wayne State travels to Ferris State next Thursday.

ON THE BENCH
Wayne State head coach Gloria Bradley has a 73-82 mark in her sixth season at WSU. Bradley is 187-151 in 12 seasons overall. Cleve Wright has compiled a 59-48 record in his fourth season at Gannon. Karin Nicholls is in her second year at Mercyhurst and has a 15-34 mark with MC.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
The opponents are a combined 3-11 in road games.

The Lakers have lost seven of their last eight games by an average of 19.7 ppg. After missing 11 of the first 12 games with an injury, Julie Anderson leads MC in scoring (14.4) and rebounding (8.3). Her 92.7 free throw percentage (38-of-41) would lead the GLIAC if she had the minimum required attempts.

Despite a below .500 record, Gannon is outscoring (+1.1) and out-rebounding (+0.5) its opponents. Among the league leaders, GU's Christina Jackson ranks fifth in scoring at 15.5 and eighth in rebounds at 6.6.

IN THE POLLS
Wayne State was selected to place sixth in South Division in the GLIAC coaches' preseason poll. The Golden Knights were picked in a tie-for-first in the GLIAC South Division with Hillsdale. Mercyhurst was ranked fifth, just ahead of the Warriors.

THE SERIES
Wayne State leads the all-time series against Gannon with a 17-11 mark. WSU has a 13-9 series lead versus Mercyhurst despite the Lakers winning the last three times.

LAST GAME NOTES
Wayne State took 85 shots and forced 29 Ashland turnovers, but the Warriors fell at AU's Kates Gymnasium, 91-72, Saturday afternoon.

With the score tied at four, the Eagles went on a 7-0 run until freshman Chastidy Miller hit a three-pointer at the 13:34 mark. AU led by as many as 13 points with less than eight minutes to play in the first, but the Warriors cut the lead to 40-36 at the half as senior Kristen Rogers knocked down a three, and Nicole Rogers scored on a layup with 17 seconds left.

Ashland opened the second half with a 6-1 run before Miller scored four straight points. But the Eagles responded with a 14-3 run to go up by 18 points with 12:11 left in the game.

Miller's layup with 2:18 to play brought WSU within nine at 80-71, but the Warriors would score just one more point on a Miller foul shot the rest of the game.

Kristen Rogers took 28 shots, two shy of Jodi Young's school record, and scored a team-best 23 points. Miller continued her recent success off the bench with a total of 16 points in 26 minutes.

The Eagles made 60.3 percent (38-of-63) of their shots compared to WSU's 34.1 percent (29-of-85). WSU was also out-rebounded 57-29.