Women's basketball win fifth straight game

Women's basketball win fifth straight game: The Wayne State women's basketball team looked to continue its hot streak into the new year against the Hillsdale Chargers (4-6 overall, 1-6 GLIAC), Jan. 3. Winners of four in a row and six out of their last seven, the Warriors extended its winning streak to five games with a hard-fought 70-66 victory.

The win did come with bad news, though, as WSU (7-3 overall, 5-1 GLIAC) learned that leading scorer Paige Sickmiller will be sidelined for the rest of the season due to a knee injury suffered during practice earlier in the week.

"That has certainly been a drastic and dramatic loss for us," head coach Carrie Lohr said. "We missed her tonight and we're going to miss her the rest of the season.

"It's just really a tough loss for all of us, especially her."

With Sickmiller on the bench, the rest of the WSU team took on a struggling Hillsdale team, losers of four consecutive games.

The Warriors started the game off on an 8-0 run, as Lena Thomas drained two 3-pointers to help give WSU the early advantage. But the Chargers followed with an 8-0 run of their own to tie the game. They continued their run, scoring another six points to the Warriors' two, to take a four-point lead, 14-10.

WSU regained the lead with a 14-4 run that gave the Warriors a six-point lead, 24-18, with 5:24 remaining in the first half.

Hillsdale continued to answer the Warriors, and trailed by one, 29-28, going into halftime. Although they held the lead, Lohr was none too pleased with the team's performance in the opening half.

"I was actually really surprised we were up at halftime considering how poorly we had played," Lohr said. "My main concern was us not sharing the basketball. There was not good chemistry on the floor."

The Chargers scored the first four points of the second half until a Brittany Streetman 3-pointer tied the game at 32. Hillsdale followed with a three, taking a 35-32 lead.

The Warriors trailed by that score until the 17:23 mark when Talisha Bridges scored a layup. That is also when Bridges and teammate Phaebre Colbert began to take over for WSU.

"I was really dissapointed with Talisha in the first half," Lohr said. "I think she has the opportunity to be a leader for us, and she really was a leader for us most of this early season, and she wasn't playing like a leader in the first half. I think she did that [in] the second half by being more physical, rebounding more [and] attacking the basket from the inside-out.

"Phaebre really just came out and kept things simple. We were able to get her the ball in the low block areas [and] there were times where she was double and triple-teamed, and easlily I guess she could have kicked it back out, but I'm glad with the decisions that she made to go up and finish strong."

Bridges and Colbert combined for 18 of the Warriors' next 24 points. Grabbing offensive rebounds, scoring second-chance points and drawing fouls, they helped give WSU a seven-point lead, 58-51, with six minutes to play. It extended its lead to 12 points at 65-53 with 3:09 to go in the game.

But, as they did all night, the Chargers responded. They got to within four points on three occasions (66-62, 68-64 and 70-66), but their comeback bid ultimately come up short.

"We kind of just had to grind [the win] out," Lohr said. "Hillsdale just wouldn't go away. The game could have gone either way, but we did what we were supposed to and we did solidify the win.

"I'm happy about that."

As conference play continues for the remainder of the season, Lohr was adamant about the team's need to play at a high level every night.

"We certainly need to play better than [tonight's performance] if we're going to contend for anything in the division."

The Warriors were led by Colbert, as she finished with a game-high 19 points and nine rebounds. Bridges recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Thomas contributed with eight points, four rebounds and three assists.

WSU is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 5, as Findlay pays a visit to the Matthaei for a 3 p.m. start.