A thinned roster, a road environment and foul trouble.
The Wayne State women’s basketball team fought off all three of these problems to win its exhibition game against the University of Detroit Titans Thursday night, 64-52.
The two teams see-sawed back- and-forth through the first 10 minutes of the second half before the Titans finally broke the trend with a 7-0 run at the nine minute mark, taking a 48-42 lead.
After a Warrior time out, the green and gold promptly responded with a 10-0 run of their own, including eight by senior guard Jasmine McCall, including a crowd-rising crossover en route to a fast break lay-up and foul. McCall completed a second three-point play giving the Warriors a 52-48 lead that they refused to give back.
McCall led all scorers with 21 points.
The Warriors turned 16 Titan turnovers into 15 points for the game including six points off of five turnovers coming in the last handful of minutes of the game. Joy Nash closed the game with four straight free throws, giving her 13 points for the night.
Junior Lindsay West provided a spark for the defense with a pair of blocked shots to go along with her 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Detroit began to mount a comeback, cutting its deficit to three. But junior guard Chelsea Kouri nailed her third 3-pointer which proved to be the dagger. The shot barely beat the shot clock and put the Warriors up by six. The Titans failed to score in the final three minutes of the game.
Yar Shayok led the Titans with 12 points..
After missing their first four 3-pointers, McCall broke the slump and the Warriors wen on to hit their next four shots from long range.
The defense soon followed suit as the Warriors were able to use their best asset and get out into the open floor by creating turnovers.
.The Warriors finished the game with three players with four fouls, which caused coach Gloria Bradley to shuffle in a small line-up that proved effective. The team was without freshmen Quintell Foster and Kalissa Love who are out with injuries.
The Warriors begin their regular season against Western Kentucky on Nov. 20. Look for the women's basketball season preview in The South End Weekly on Nov. 19.
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