Wright State University
2-3
Miami
3-2
Miami Spoils Women's Home Opener
12/2/2008 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Wright State led by four midway through the first half, but a 21-3 Miami run to end the period proved to be the difference as the RedHawks spoiled the Raiders' home opener with a 77-60 decision in women's basketball action at the Nutter Center Tuesday night.
WSU got off to a fast start as the Raiders broke out to a 9-2 advantage three minutes into the contest, five of those coming from Ta-myra Davis. Miami went up for the first time at 11-10 following a Courtney Reed jumper with 15:00 to play, but that lead was shortlived as Tanni Scott hit a jumper and a layup by Erica Richardson made it 23-19 with 9:57 remaining.
From there, however, the RedHawks took control. Eight straight Miami points, including back-to-back layups from Ashley Hawkins, turned a four-point deficit into a four-point lead and after Richardson snapped that string with a basket at the 7:51 mark, the RedHawks scored 13 of the game's next 14 points to end the half.
Miami shot 48 percent from the field and a perfect nine-for-nine from the foul line over the first 20 minutes compared to 39 percent shooting and seven of 10 from the stripe for Wright State. The RedHawks also had the advantage in points in the paint (22-10) and points off of turnovers (13-7).
A Charne Dixon three cut the margin to 40-31 and WSU drew to within eight twice during the initial seven minutes of the second half, but the RedHawks followed with an 18-4 run over a six-minute span to put the game out of reach.
WSU shot 56 percent from the floor in the second half, including four of eight from three-point range, to finish at 48 percent overall while Miami was at 44 percent for the game. The RedHawks, though, hit 17 of 22 foul shots and led in points in the paint (34-28) and points off of turnovers (27-15) as they forced 24 miscues while committing just 15.
LaShawna Thomas led the way for the Raiders with 11 points while Richardson just missed a double-double with nine points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Shey Peddy eight, Davis seven, Tatianna Hall six and Dixon six along with five assists.
Jenna Schone paced four in double figures for Miami (3-2) with 16 points and added eight assists while Courtney Reed had 15 points and seven rebounds. Maggie Boyer and Rachael Hencke chipped in 13 and 10 points off the bench, respectively.
Wright State (2-3) boards a plane Wednesday morning for the Hukilau Invitational in Laie, Hawaii. The Raiders face BYU on Friday at 6:00 Eastern followed by host BYU Hawaii Saturday at midnight Dayton time.
