Western Wayne Today

The Wayne State University women's basketball team narrowly missed an upset victory against the fourth-ranked Grand Valley State Lakers, losing 63-62 at the Wayne State Fieldhouse on Thursday evening. The Warriors, now 14-7 overall and 7-5 in the GLIAC, put up a strong fight but ultimately fell short to the Lakers, who improved to 19-2 overall and 10-1 in conference play.

The game began with Grand Valley State scoring the first 11 points before Wayne State's McKenna Ferguson ended their drought with a pair of free throws. Despite trailing 22-9 after the first quarter, Wayne State responded by outscoring GVSU 22-11 in the second quarter. This effort brought them within two points at halftime.

In the third quarter, Wayne State tied the game multiple times and even took a brief lead. However, Grand Valley State managed to pull ahead again with crucial plays from Nicole Kamin and Rylie Bisballe. Entering the final quarter, Wayne State once more surged ahead thanks to efforts from Ferguson and Gabi Lutchka but couldn't maintain their advantage as Bisballe's late three-pointer secured GVSU's win.

Statistically, both teams shot similarly from the field with GVSU hitting 41 percent compared to WSU's 40 percent. However, Wayne State had a better success rate from beyond the arc at 40 percent versus GVSU’s 23 percent. Despite these numbers, GVSU edged out in rebounds and steals while WSU led in assists.

Ferguson was a standout for Wayne State with 15 points, supported by Kate McArthur and Shea Tripp each adding double figures. For Grand Valley State, Bisballe was dominant with a double-double performance of 16 points and a game-high of 15 rebounds alongside Kamin’s leading score of 19 points.

Wayne State is set to host Davenport on Saturday at the same venue.