The Wright State women's basketball team led by 12 at the half and by as much as 19 in the second half, but had to hold off a Milwaukee rally in the final minutes before defeating the Panthers 77-73 in the Horizon League opener for both teams Friday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

Both teams were on fire in the early going as Alex Klawitter connected on Milwaukee's sixth three-pointer of the game to put the Panthers up 20-19 with still 12:41 remaining in the first half. WSU, however, followed with a 16-3 run over the next seven minutes, seven of those coming from LaShawna Thomas, to go up 38-26 at the 5:39 mark.

The Raiders maintained a double-digit lead for most of the rest of the period and led 45-33 at the break. Wright State hit 18 of 36 shots in the half, including five of 10 from three-point range, while the Panthers were just 12 of 32 from the field, but nine of 17 from behind the arc.

A Molly Fox three gave WSU its biggest lead of the day at 62-43 with 12:39 to play and the margin was still 11 at 74-63 on a Thomas fast-break layup with 2:15 remaining.

Milwaukee, though, stormed back with seven straight points before Thomas made it 75-70 with a foul shot at the 17-second mark. A line-drive three by Angela Rodriguez cut the deficit to two, but Maria Bennett connected on two foul shots with nine seconds left for the final margin of victory.

The Raiders shot 39 percent in the second half to finish at 45 percent overall, including seven of 25 from three, while the Panthers were at 37 percent for the game, but 15 of 34 from behind the arc.

Wright State held a 46-41 rebounding edge and outscored Milwaukee 34-16 in the paint and 20-8 in second-chance points.

For the second consecutive game, Fox recorded a career scoring high as she led the Raiders with 26 points, one better than the 25 she had in the previous game against UCF on December 22. She also posted a double-double as she collected 14 rebounds.

Thomas added 20 points, nine assists and eight rebounds while Shaunda Sandifer chipped in 10 points, eight boards and five assists.

Lindsay Laur recorded a double-double of 26 points and 17 rebounds for Milwaukee (3-9, 0-1 Horizon) as she hit six of 10 three-pointers while Rodriguez had 13.

Wright State (8-4, 1-0 Horizon), winners of four straight and six of seven, is off to its best start in 24 years of being a Division I member. The Raiders wrap up the Wisconsin trip and opens play in 2011 on Sunday, January 2, at #21 Green Bay. Game time is 2:00 Eastern.