Wright State University
8-12, 5-4HL
Loyola
4-16, 2-7HL
Women Defeat Loyola in Final Minute
2/3/2008 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Wright State saw a six-point lead slip away with a minute remaining, but the Raiders scored the final seven points, five coming from Shey Peddy, to record a 56-49 win over Loyola in Horizon League women's basketball action at the Gentile Center Saturday afternoon.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half as WSU shot 32 percent and Loyola 38 percent, but it was the Raiders that held an 18-14 advantage at the break as they scored the final seven points of the period on an Erica Richardson three-point play and a pair of scores from Tatianna Hall.
Wright State went up 27-20 on a Peddy layup at the 15:44 mark of the second half and led by as much as 33-25 following a Sierra Crayton jumper with 11:06 left to play.
Loyola closed to within one at 33-32 at the 8:13 mark, but the Raiders maintained the lead and looked to be in good shape as Whitney Lewis hit a foul shot at the 2:22 mark to put WSU up 47-41.
The second attempt, however, was waived off due to a lane violation and that sparked the Ramblers into an 8-2 run over the next 1:21 to tie the game at 49, the final three coming on a Maggie McCloskey triple from the top of the key.
Peddy, though, took over from there as she drove down the left side of the lane for a three-point play at the 43-second mark and, after a steal from the freshman guard, converted two foul shots with 25 seconds left to make it 54-49. Following a Loyola miss, LaShawna Thomas hit two free throws with 14 seconds left to round out the scoring.
Both teams picked up the offense in the second half as Wright State shot 52 percent to finish at 43 percent overall while Loyola also hit for 52 percent the final 20 minutes to end up at 46 percent for the game.
The Raiders led in second-chance points 10-3 thanks to a 10-6 edge in offensive rebounds and made 13 of 15 from the foul line, including nine of 10 in the second half, compared to nine of 14 for the Ramblers.
Peddy led all scorers with 18 and added four assists and four steals while Thomas chipped in 15 points, nine in the second half. The Raiders outscored Loyola 15-4 in bench points as Crayton and Hall each had six.
Elyse VanBogaert paced Loyola (4-16, 2-7 Horizon) with 17 points while Keisha Collins had 10.
Wright State, now 8-12 overall and 5-4 in the Horizon League, is home for the next two weeks, starting with a matchup against Detroit on Saturday, February 9, at 1:00.
