Wright State Women Can't Hold Off Milwaukee, Lose

Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar

February 15, 2009
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Wright State and Milwaukee are fairly equal in talent. In fact going into this game WSU was sixth and UWM seventh in the Horizon League. Both teams had 10-13 overall records before this game. The game reflected that closeness.

Sophomore LaShawna Thomas opened tonight's game with a three point shot at the 18:32 mark. The Lady Raiders would open a nine point lead by 12:50 in the game, however Milwaukee came battling back. They would take their first lead on a jump shot by Junior Jodie McClain, 21-20. However by half time this game would be tied twice and the lead would change seven times. After two free throws for an at-the-buzzer foul, Milwaukee went to the locker room with a 30-26 lead.

Wright State's 40.7% (11-27) shooting was being lead by Thomas who had nine points and three rebounds. Junior Kanisha Ward put in five points while Sophomore Ta-myra Davis lead the Defense with four rebounds and four points. Milwaukee's Senior Traci Edwards, a potential WNBA player, was held to just six points and only two rebounds in the first half, while UWM shot 48% (12-25).

It's possible that Wright State's relatively young team has hit that "Freshman Wall". The point which happens around now where the team is tired from a long season they're not used to and have to re-energize. After winning three in a row in late January, the Lady Raiders have now lost four in a row. Some of their best players are in a slump. Sophomore Shey Peddy the team's second highest point getter shot 0-4 in the first half and would finish shooting 2-12. Three point ace Freshman Maria Bennett would shoot just 1-4 from beyond the arc in this game. Thomas averaging 13.2 points before tonight, shot all 9 of her points in the first half.

It is now up to the coaches to help the team get over this slump and back on the winning track. With five games left in the regular season, the team can still finish above 500 for the season. But they need to "shake it off". In attendance tonight was former teammate Whitney Lewis, back from playing pro in Europe. Maybe she can be hired on to help the team with its free throw shooting (worst in the HL and second worst in the NCAA) and work with them to get beyond this slump. Just a thought.

The second half of this game belonged to Milwaukee. Although WSU would make runs, they would never catch UWM. The Lady Panthers had a 13 point lead at the 11:59 mark, which WSU was able to knock down to just two, 49-47 at the 8:43 mark. However that was it, the Lady Panthers rebuilt the lead and finished with a six point win, 70-64.

Edwards came alive in the second half for Milwaukee, finishing above her 18 point per game average, with 20 points and eight rebounds. WSU shot 42.1% (24-57) and Milwaukee finished with 55.8% (24-43). The Panthers controlled the boards 35-30 while turning the ball over 16 times for 14 WSU points. The Lady Raiders did a good job in reducing their turnovers to just 12 resulting in 11 UWM points.

Ward finished leading the Raiders with 14 points and two steals. Davis missed a double-double by one board with 11 points and nine rebounds. Freshman Molly Fox, who is developing into a player to watch, sank 11 points herself while grabbing one board and a steal. Fox is a player who can make things happen in the paint.

The Lady Raiders now have three games on the road. This should be a winning road trip for them. They return home on March 5th for their final home stand of the season. They play Loyola on the 5th at 7pm and finish the season hosting UIC on March 7th. The women's HL Tournament starts on March 9th.