Wright State University
12-13, 9-5HL
Valparaiso
12-14, 7-8HL
Women Defeat Valparaiso
2/23/2008 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Wright State shot 70 percent in the first half in building a 15-point halftime lead, but had to hold off a late Valparaiso rally before defeating the Crusaders 75-64 in Horizon League action at the Athletic-Recreation Center Saturday afternoon.
Valparaiso went up 8-5 on a Whitney Farris layup at the 16:41 mark of the first half, but that turned out to be the final lead of the night for the Crusaders as Wright State followed with eight straight points and a 21-4 run overall over the next seven minutes, a streak that saw seven different Raiders score.
The Crusaders closed the margin to 10 on three separate occasions over the rest of the half, but WSU scored the final four points on two Kanisha Ward foul shots and a Shey Peddy layup to take its biggest lead of the game at 38-23 heading into halftime.
Wright State hit 14 of 20 shots and eight of 11 from the foul line over the opening 20 minutes compared to nine of 25 from the field and four of eight at the stripe for the Crusaders.
The Raider margin was still 15 at 60-45 following a Whitney Lewis three with seven minutes to play, but Valparaiso followed with a 14-2 run over the next 3:36 to make it 62-59 with 3:24 left.
A putback by Lewis and two Ward free throws, however, stemmed the tide and despite the Crusaders cutting the deficit to 66-62 at the 1:05 mark, Valparaiso would get no closer as the Raiders hit nine of 10 foul shots the rest of the way.
Wright State shot 48 percent in the second half to finish at 58 percent overall while Valpo was at 35 percent. Both teams had big days at the foul line as the Raiders made 14 of 22 over the final 20 minutes to end up 22 of 33 for the game while the Crusaders hit 25 of 27 in the second half and were 29 of 35 overall.
WSU also held a 36-23 rebounding advantage, which resulted in a 11-2 edge in second-chance points. The Raiders also led 38-30 in points in the paint.
Five Wright State players finished in double figures, led by Lewis with 16 and Peddy with 15. Ward added 12 off the bench while LaShawna Thomas had 11 as did Charne Dixon, marking a career high for the sophomore guard.
Launa Hochstetler paced all scorers with 17 for Valparaiso (12-14, 7-8 Horizon), while Agnieszka Kulaga had 12 and Aimee Litka 10.
Wright State, now 12-13 overall and 9-5 in the Horizon League, closes out the home portion of its schedule next weekend with a pair of games, taking on Loyola on Thursday, February 28, at 7:00 followed by UIC on Saturday, March 1, at 1:00.
