Wright State University
1-1
Eastern Kentucky
2-3
Women Defeat Eastern Kentucky for First Win
11/25/2008 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
It was an offensive struggle throughout, but Wright State held the lead most of the way as the Raiders picked their first win of the season with a 53-47 decision over Eastern Kentucky Tuesday night in women's basketball action at McBrayer Arena.
WSU jumped out to a 9-2 advantage four minutes into the contest with seven straight points, five coming from LaShawna Thomas, and the Raiders maintained that edge throughout most of the first half until eight consecutive points gave the Colonels what turned out to be their only lead of the night at 18-17 with 41 seconds left. Maria Bennett, though, drained a three from the left wing 18 seconds later to put Wright State up 20-18 at the break.
The Raider margin seesawed between seven and three over the initial 16 minutes of the second half until Eastern Kentucky cut the deficit to 40-38 on two Nadia Mossong free throws with 4:06 remaining.
After a Shey Peddy took over as the sophomore guard scored the final 11 points of the game for the Raiders, all at the foul line in 12 attempts.
Peddy's two free throws with 19.6 seconds to play made it 51-44 and, despite a Colette Cole three in the final seconds, Peddy preserved the win with two more with three seconds left.
Both teams struggled offensively throughout as Wright State shot 33 percent and was just one of 11 from three-point range while Eastern Kentucky hit for only 21 percent overall and was five of 25 from behind the arc. The Colonels were 20 of 25 from the line compared to 18 of 24 for the Raiders.
WSU led in points in the paint (26-8) and in points off of turnovers (20-12) while EKU had a 20-9 edge in second-chance points despite Wright State holding a 42-40 advantage on the boards.
Peddy led all scorers with 18, with the 11 from the foul line coming in the final 1:35, while Fox added 11, Thomas nine along with seven assists and Erica Richardson eight points and nine rebounds off the bench.
Drake paced the Colonels (2-3) with 16 points while Cole had 10.
Wright State (1-1) heads to Moon Township, Pennsylvania, this weekend for the RMU Thanksgiving Tournament. The Raiders will face IUPUI in the opening round Saturday at 4:00, followed by either Howard or host Robert Morris on Sunday, with the consolation game set for noon and the championship at 2:00.
