Wright State University
8-15, 4-9HL
Loyola
13-11, 7-6HL
| Team | 1 | 2 | OT 1 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wright State | 42 | 22 | 4 | 68 |
| Loyola | 33 | 31 | 13 | 77 |
Women Fall at Loyola in Overtime
2/13/2010 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Wright State women's basketball team built a 12-point lead in the first half on host Loyola, but faltered down the stretch in a 77-68 overtime loss on Saturday afternoon at the Gentile Center. The Raiders missed only four shots in opening stanza, but the Ramblers made nine three-pointers and connected on 14 of 16 from the foul line to seize the Horizon League win.
Wright State was perfect from the field to open the game, nailing their first seven shots, and going four-of-four from the charity stripe, to grab an early 21-11 lead with 13:04 to play. The Raiders turned the ball over only twice during that span and Maria Bennett capped the solid WSU start with a three-pointer from the corner.
The Raiders didn't miss a shot until the 11:02 mark when Kanisha Ward was there with the rebound and converted the second chance points to make it a 23-13 lead for WSU.
A Maggie McCloskey three-pointer, followed by three free throws from Keisha Collins, cut the Wright State lead to just four points at 9:55, but that was as close as Loyola would get. Ward stole a pass and made a fast break layup, followed by a Fox jumper, widening the Raiders lead to eight points at 27-19.
Ta-myra Davis extended the WSU advantage to 11 points with a pair of free throws late in the half, but a WSU turnover led to a pair of LU free throws to make it a nine point game at the break, 42-33.
WSU shot 79 percent (15-19) in the opening frame - including a blistering 6 of 8 from three-point range - and connected on all six free throws to score a season-best 42 first-half points. The Ramblers hit 11 of their 27 shots in the first half for a respectable 41 percent and were a perfect 7 of 7 at the line to keep the game close heading to the locker room.
McCloskey hit a three to open the scoring in the second half and, after a Davis layup for WSU, the Rambler senior hit her sixth three of the game to cut the Raiders lead to just five points, 44-39.
The Davis basket was the only points for the Green and Gold over the first eight minutes and Loyola roared back with 12 of their own to grab their first lead of the contest. The Ramblers took that lead on a Monica Albano putback at the 11:52 mark, but Davis and Ward made layups on consecutive trips and WSU was back ahead, 48-45, with 11 minutes to play.
Wright State built their lead back to five points on Erica Richardson bucket, but LU's McCloskey hit her seventh three pointer and Keisha Collins knocked down a jumper to knot the game at 57-57 with 3:54 to play.
McCloskey gave Loyola (13-11, 7-6 Horizon) their second lead of the contest at the 3:31 mark with another shot from distance and back-to-back layups gave the Ramblers their biggest lead at 64-59. Bennett, though, knocked down a triple and Ward stole a pass and tied the game up with 57 seconds to play.
A late foul put Elyse VanBogaert at the line, but the Loyola senior missed the front-end of the bonus and a last second shot from Thomas rimmed out and the two teams would head to overtime for the second time this season.
In the extra session, the Raiders would strike first on a Davis lay in, but Collins would hit two free throws and assist on a VanBogaert basket to give the home team the lead for good. LU outscored WSU 13-4 in the extra period to claim their second OT win over WSU this season.
Davis led four WSU players in double-figures with 18 points, while Richardson and Bennett each scored 12. Ward had 11 points, nabbed seven boards and collected a career-best nine steals.
Wright State shot 53 percent from the field in the contest and outscored the Rambler 32-28 in the paint, but nine free throws from Collins and nine three-pointers from McCloskey proved to be the difference.
McCloskey paced all scorers with 27 points, while Collins posted a double-double of 15 points and 11 assists.
Wright State (8-15, 4-9 Horizon) returns to action on Thursday, February 18, versus Valparaiso at the Ervin J. Nutter Center. Tip off is at 7:00.
