Wright State University
2-1
IUPUI
3-3
Women Hold On for 59-57 Win Over IUPUI
11/29/2008 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Wright State looked to be in command, up 11 with 3:42 to play, but the Raiders had to hold off a late IUPUI rally before defeating the Jaguars 59-57 in the opening round of the RMU Thanksgiving Tournament Saturday in Moon Township, Pennsylvania.
Neither team had more than a five-point lead in the first half as there were five ties and four lead changes. A Julia Whitted basket at the 6:50 mark put IUPUI up 19-18, but WSU closed out the half with a 7-1 run to go up 25-20 at the break.
Wright State held a slight edge in field goal percentage over the first 20 minutes (39-38 percent) and forced the Jaguars into 16 turnovers while committing 11, resulting in a 14-6 differential in points off of turnovers.
Seven straight points, capped off by a Shey Peddy three. gave the Raiders a 32-22 lead with 16:17 to play and WSU maintained at least a five-point cushion for the next 14 minutes, the biggest margin being 56-45 following a Peddy fast-break layup at the 3:42 mark.
IUPUI, however, would not go down quietly as after Whitted converted a three-point play and added another score to cut the deficit to six, Jernisha Cann hit two foul shots and a jumper to make it 56-54 with 1:38 remaining.
The Jaguars later had a chance to tie the game, but came away empty on a turnover and LaShawna Thomas made it a two-possession lead as, with the shot clock winding down, she connected on a jumper from the right baseline at the 29.3-second mark.
After IUPUI missed a pair of three-point attempts, Thomas hit one of two foul shots with 6.7 seconds left to push the margin to five before Quanisha Turner hit a three for the Jaguars at the horn to round out the scoring.
WSU shot 56 percent from the field in the second half to finish at 47 percent overall while IUPUI hit for 52 percent the final 20 minutes to end up at 45 percent. The Jaguars held a slight edge on the boards at 37-31, but the Raiders led in points in the paints (30-20) and points off of turnovers (30-20) as they forced 29 turnovers while committing 20.
Thomas paced Wright State with 21 points while Peddy added 14 points along with eight rebounds, six assists and five steals. Ta-myra Davis, Erica Richardson each had six points, with Richardson chipping in eight rebounds and Davis six.
Cann led all scorers with a double-double effort of 22 points and 10 rebounds for IUPUI (3-3) while Whitted had 17 points and seven boards.
Wright State (2-1) will take on host Robert Morris, a 64-54 win over Howard in the other first round matchup, in the championship game at 2:00 on Sunday.
