Wright State University
5-10, 2-2HL
Youngstown State
8-8, 3-2HL
Women Fall at Youngstown State
1/17/2008 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Wright State rallied from an early 12-point deficit to lead by as much as seven in the second half, but Youngstown State regained the advantage and held off a late charge as the Penguins defeated the Raiders 61-58 in Horizon League women's basketball action at the Beeghly Center Thursday night.
The Penguins used a 10-0 run to break a 7-7 tie, five each by Heather Karner and Jessica Schloemp, and later led 21-9 on an Ashley Pendleton jumper with 12:01 remaining in the first half. WSU, though, chipped away from there, closing the margin to 28-23 at the break and started the second half with a 14-2 burst, eight of those coming from Shey Peddy, to go up 37-30 with 15:47 to play.
YSU eventually tied the game at 41 on a Karner three-point play, only to see Whitney Lewis give Wright State the lead again with a three. A Peddy layup later made it 46-45, but the Penguins followed by scoring the next 11 points, including threes from Velissa Vaughn, Karner and Schloemp, to make it 56-46 at the 5:14 mark.
Wright State, though, trimmed the margin to 56-53 on a Crayton free throw with 2:10 remaining and still had a chance as Peddy connected on a three from the left wing to make it 59-56 with 15.7 seconds left.
Lauren Branson, however, made both foul shot attempts at the 13.9-second mark and, following a Peddy layup, Vaughn hit one of two with five seconds to provide the final margin.
The Raiders had one last shot to tie, but Peddy's desperation three went off the glass and the right side of the rim as time expired.
Both teams shot nearly identical percentages as Youngstown State was at 40 percent overall and Wright State 39 percent and the Raiders hit five of 13 threes while the Penguins were seven of 19. Foul shooting, though, proved to be a key as YSU was 10 of 14, including eight of 11 the final 20 minutes, while WSU was just five of 10, three of eight in the second half.
Peddy led all scorers with 20 for Wright State, but no other Raider managed more than eight as Crayton had that along with eight rebounds and Erica Richardson had eight off the bench. LaShawna Thomas added seven points and seven assists.
Karner paced four starters in double figures for Youngstown State (8-8, 3-2 Horizon) with 16 points and had nine rebounds, while Vaughn added 14, Schloemp 13 and Tiara Scott 10.
Wright State, now 5-10 overall and 2-2 in the Horizon League, concludes the Northeast Ohio swing Saturday at 5:00 against Cleveland State.
