Wright State University
2-7
Cincinnati
6-2
Women Fall Short at Cincinnati
12/11/2007 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Wright State women's basketball team rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to lead by one with seven minutes remaining, but could not hold on as the Cincinnati Bearcats pulled away late for a 73-66 win Tuesday night at Fifth Third Arena.
The Raiders trailed 15-14 after two LaShawna Thomas free throws at the 11:52 mark of the first half, but Cincinnati followed with a 10-0 run, eight of those coming from Jill Stephens, and later went up 34-18 with 6:13 remaining on a fast-break layup by Carla Jacobs.
WSU responded with nine straight of its own to cut the deficit to seven and came as close as seven again twice more in the half, only to see the Bearcats take a 44-34 lead into halftime as Cincinnati shot 67 percent over the first 20 minutes compared to 50 percent for the Raiders.
The UC lead seesawed between seven and 12 in the second half until a 12-2 run gave Wright State a 61-60 edge, capped off by a running baseline jumper by Thomas at the 7:06 mark.
Two foul shots by Tenishia Benson, though, put the Bearcats back up for good, but the Raiders still hung close, trailing just 67-66 on a Whitney Lewis three with 2:43 left.
That turned out to be the final points of the game for Wright State, however, as Cincinnati closed out the contest by scoring the last six points, all from the foul line.
Wright State shot 41 percent overall compared to Cincinnati's 50 percent, even though the Bearcats shot 29 percent the final 20 minutes. The Raiders hit nine of 25 from three-point range to only one of six for UC, but the Bearcats made up the difference by going 18 of 24 from the free throw line, 15 of 19 in the second half, to just seven of eight for WSU. Cincinnati also had a 46-18 advantage in points in the paint and 25-13 in points off of turnovers.
Just four Raiders dented the scoring column on the night as Lewis led the way with 21, 16 of those coming in the second half. Thomas added 20, 13 in the first half, Tatianna Hall 16 and Kanisha Ward nine.
All five Cincinnati (6-2) starters reached double figures, led by Stephens with 19, Kahla Roudebush with 17 and Benson 15.
Wright State, now 2-7 on the season, returns to action on Sunday, December 16, against crosstown rival Dayton at UD Arena. Game time is 2:00.
