Nov. 19, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

2007-08 RECORDS:
Wayne State 15-12, 9-8 GLIAC
Northern Kentucky 28-8, 13-6 GLVC

ONLINE AUDIO: nku.edu/~athletics/0708 broadcast page.html

SERIES: Northern Kentucky leads 8-0

NKU GAME STORYLINES

Wayne State opens its 2008-09 season at defending national champion Northern Kentucky this Thursday.

The Warriors hope to improve on a strong finish last season and an appearance in the GLIAC semifinals for the first time since 2003.

Head coach Gloria Bradley enters her ninth year at the helm of the Warrior women's basketball program with six returning letterwinners from last year's squad, which won eight of nine contests from mid-January through mid-February, then upset top-seeded Hillsdale on its home court in the first round of the GLIAC tournament.

WSU returns its top four scorers from last year along with three of its top four rebounders from 2007-08.

The Warriors will be led offensively by a trio of seniors in Chastidy Miller (White Lake, Mich./Waterford Kettering), Jasmine McCall (Detroit, Mich./CMA) and Joy Nash (Muskegon, Mich.).

Wayne State is looking for its first series win against the Norse, who were 78-60 victors in Detroit last season. The Warrior defense will have to improve on the 45 second-half points allowed in that contest.

Nash was the high point-scorer for the Warriors with 16. McCall recorded three steals and was the second highest scorer with 10 points.

All-American center Angela Healy accounted for 21 of NKU's points on her way to a double-double, with 12 rebounds. The 78 points was the fourth highest point total the Warriors have allowed in the series.

Without Healy, NKU will need to find another way to beat the Warriors' defense which allowed an average of 66 points per game last year.

Northern Kentucky is the No. 1 ranked team in this year's preseason USA TODAY/ESPN Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. NKU will unveil its new 9,400-seat Bank of Kentucky Center.

The Norse are 1-1 after a pair of exhibition games against NCAA Division I opponents. They defeated Cincinnati on the road, 56-52, then lost to Louisville, 90-73, in the inaugural game on their new home court.

RECENT RESULTS

The Wayne State University women's basketball team began the 2008-09 campaign recording a 64-52 exhibition win at Detroit Mercy on Thursday, Nov. 6.

After a fast-break lay up by McCall tied the game at six just five minutes in, the Titans rattled off nine consecutive points for a 15-6 advantage.

The Warriors responded with six consecutive points on back-to-back triples by McCall and sophomore Chelsea Kouri (Clarkston, Mich.). UDM's lead was between two and six for the next six minutes until Nash and Miller drained back-to-back triples to knot the game at 25 with just over four minutes remaining.

Wayne State had a 4-2 scoring advantage until intermission for a two-point halftime lead at 29-27.

Neither team had more than a two-point lead for the first 11:45 of the second half until Detroit's Jalesa Jones' conventional three-point play was followed by a jumper from Zemora Davis giving the hosts a 48-42 lead with 7:50 left.

WSU scored 10 straight points for a 52-48 lead. McCall started the run with six consecutive points and following two foul shots by Miller, McCall finished the run with a steal and fast-break lay-up.

Miller's conventional three-point play with 4:51 remaining gave the Warriors a 55-50 lead. Detroit's Chanica Hall scored on a fast-break to make it 55-52, but WSU answered with the final nine points, on a triple by Kouri and six consecutive made foul shots (two by McCall followed by four from Nash).

McCall led all scorers with 21 points, while junior center Lindsey West (Royal Oak, Mich./Kimball) had a game-high 13 rebounds. McCall also contributed four assists and six steals. Nash had 13 points and three assists, with West adding 10 points, two assists, two steals and two blocks.

Due to injuries, Wayne State only played seven players. Freshman Felicia Thomas (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central) had three rebounds in 15 minutes of action.

ON THE BENCH

Gloria Bradley begins her ninth season at WSU and 15th season overall with records of 101-117 and 215-186, respectively.

Nancy Winstel is in her 26th season as Northern Kentucky's head coach. In 25 seasons she has compiled a mark of 548-184.

ALL-TIME SERIES

The Northern Kentucky Norse has been the victors in every meeting to date, eight straight series wins. Three times the Warriors have allowed NKU to score over 95 points.

NOTEWORTHY

Chastidy Miller enters her senior season just 68 points short of 1000. She will be the 14th player in WSU history to reach that plateau. The last player to reach 1000 points at WSU is current assistant coach Kristen Rogers in the 2005-06 season.

Miller, currently ranked 18th all-time in scoring, needs just 42 points to move past Jessica King into 17th place.

SCOUTING NORTHERN KENTUCKY

NKU captured the NCAA Division II national championship last season and finished with a 28-8 record.

The Norse's top three scorers from last year all averaged over 13 points per game. Two of them have returned, Cassie Brannen and Jessie Slack.

Brannen, a senior, will try to fill the shoes of graduated All-America center Angela Healy. Brannen ranked 26th nationally with 2.1 blocks per game on a team that ranked second in the nation in blocks per game last year.

Slack, also a senior, shot 40.5% from beyond the arc last year which ranked 22nd nationally. She made a team high 68 three-pointers a year ago.