Wright State University
2-4
BYU
4-2
Women's Basketball Drops Bout Versus BYU
12/5/2008 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Wright State women's basketball team forced 32 turnovers, but BYU shot 50 percent from the field as the Raiders dropped a 56-50 decision to the Cougars on Friday afternoon in the Hukilau Invitational at the Cannon Activities Center on the BYU Hawaii Campus.
The Raiders raced out to an early 10-2 lead as WSU forced seven turnovers and converted on seven of their first 10 possessions. Ta-myra Davis poured in four free throws in the first six minutes of the game and Tatianna Hall hit a pair of jumpers to push WSU to an eight point lead early in the game.
The Cougars (4-2) cut the deficit to two points at the 11:53 mark when Mindy Nielson collected a loose ball and converted a layup to make the score 12-10 in favor of the Raiders. In just one minute, Kanisha Ward pushed the Raiders lead back to seven points. The junior knocked down a three pointer from the right wing and then stole the ball and sent a long pass to Shey Peddy for a layup.
The Raiders would lead for most of the first half - with BYU cutting the lead to two points four times in the period - before the Cougars would take the lead on a Nielson three pointer with 2:11 left in the half. BYU would push their lead to four points with 1:29 left in the half, before Hall would connect on a pair of jumpers to knot the game at 29-29 heading into half time.
Brigham Young opened the second half with an 11-2 run to take a 40-31 lead with 14-minutes remaining in the contest. The lead would hover at nine points for BYU before the Green and Gold would storm back with a run of their own.
LaShawna Thomas hot a long three pointer at the 11:39 mark and six straight points from WSU cut the lead to just two points. Ward hit again at the 8:46 mark with a three-point basket and WSU led 46-45 heading into the stretch.
BYU would score the next 10 points - consuming over five minutes on the clock - and hold off a late WSU rally to defeat the Raiders.
BYU shot 50 percent for the game (20-40), while the Raiders were 17-50 from the floor for 34 percent. The two teams connected on 68 percent of their free throws, with WSU posting 12 steals and 11 assists in the contest. Thomas paced all WSU scorers with 15 points, Davis tallied 11 and Hall posted 10 off the bench. Hall and Thomas each ended with a game-high eight rebounds and Ward dished out a team-high three assists.
Wright State (2-4) will return to action on Saturday, December 6 at Midnight Dayton time against BYU Hawaii.
