Women's hoops win first NCAA tournament game in program history

Women's hoops win first NCAA tournament game in program history: As the old saying goes, “third time’s the charm.”

That was true for the Wayne State women’s basketball team (21-8) in the opening round of the 2013 NCAA Division II women‘s basketball tournament, as the Warriors defeated the No. 3 and GLIAC-foe Findlay Oilers, 63-58, in the third meeting between the two this season.

Findlay (25-6) defeated WSU in the first two meetings, including just six days ago, 67-60, in the GLIAC tournament semifinals.

In just the second appearance in the NCAA tournament in school history, the sixth-seeded Warriors picked up the team’s first tournament win at Kates Gymnasium in Ashland, Ohio -- the host site of the Midwest Regional.

They got off to a quick start, taking a 7-1 lead 2:42 into the game. A 10-4 run from the Oilers tied the game at 11 with 13:04 left in the first half.

Findlay took a four-point lead on two occasions, 14-11 and 19-15, but WSU tied it up at 19 with 5:36 remaining in the half.

The Warriors regained the lead, and at halftime, held a 28-24 lead.

WSU extended its lead to seven at 31-24 with a three-pointer to open the second half. The Oilers made it a 33-30 game, but the Warriors got the lead back to seven by scoring the next four points.

Findlay responded with an 8-0 run to take a one-point lead.

The game was tied at 40 with 13:45 left to play, and it was a back-and-forth affair from there.

There were three ties and four lead changes over the next nine minutes, with the final lead change being in the Warriors’ favor. They took a 53-52 lead at the 4:49 mark, and held a 59-54 lead with 1:55 remaining.

Findlay made it a three-point game, 59-56, one minute later, but three free-throws from Talisha Bridges and one from Juanita Cochran secured the victory.

Three Warriors--Cochran, Phaebre Colbert and Lena Thomas -- scored a game-high 15 points. Cochran and Colbert grabbed 15 and four rebounds, respectively, while Thomas dished out three assists. Cochran also tallied six blocks. Bridges contributed with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists.

WSU will take on No. 7-seed Wisconsin-Parkside, Saturday, March 16 at 5 p.m.