Women Get the Win behind Davis' Double-Double

January 25, 2009
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Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar

This game did not start out right for the Lady Raiders. They would not lead at all in the first half. In fact, they would not even be tied with Cleveland during the first half. Cleveland State would have a 5-0 jump start before Wright State even scored. Cleveland State would expand the lead to seven points three times in the half, but the Raiders would battle to stay close. At half time Cleveland State went to the locker room with a 27-21 advantage.

Eight players had scored for Wright State, while Jessica Roque sank 11 points for Cleveland State. CSU was outshooting WSU 47.6% (10-21) TO 42.9% (9-21). The Raiders bench was a major difference in staying close to Cleveland State, providing 7 first half points to none for CSU's bench. The first half also saw a "Fox-Block" by 6-1 Freshman Molly Fox as she came from nowhere and blocked a shot. She is currently tied for ninth in the HL for blocked shots with a .7 average per game.

The second half saw Wright State kick up the defense and wear down Cleveland State. At the 12:45 mark, a layup by Fox gave the Raiders their first lead, 36-35. The lead would change hands three times in the game and it would be tied twice.

The Raiders kept their turnovers down to just 15 (they were averaging 22) and outscored CSU in the paint 30-16. Once more the bench stepped in with 19 points to just one for the CSU bench. Those points included two three pointers, one each from Freshman Maria Bennett and Sophomore Shey Peddy. The Raiders shot 25% (4-16) from beyond the arc.

6-1 Sophomore Ta-myra Davis lead the charge today in her 30 minutes of game time. She hit her first double-double with ten each for baskets and boards. Sophomore LaShawna Thomas lead the WSU scoring with 16 points, while she also grabbed three steals and 3 rebounds. Tough defense and staying with their plan gave the Raiders the win, 55-52. Wright State now moves into third place in the Horizon League.

WSU women continue to improve in the HL, especially their defensive capabilities. They are #1 in Rebounding margin (+3.7 per game) and also Rebounding Defense (30 per game). They are currently third in Scoring Defense at 55.9points per game. They have several individual rankings in the HL as well, lead by Peddy who is 10th nationally with 3.1 steals per game. Do they have weaknesses? What team doesn't. Yes they do so, they need to continue to work on improving.

The Raiders will now try to make this a three game homestand swwep next Saturday, the 31st. They will host the eight place HL team, Detroit at 1pm in the Nutter Center.