Wright State University
9-2
Eastern Kentucky
4-3
Simmons Three Lifts Women Past Eastern Kentucky
12/13/2015 5:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
A three by freshman Symone Simmons with 6.1 seconds remaining lifted the Wright State women's basketball team to a 71-69 victory at Eastern Kentucky Sunday.
An 11-2 run gave the Colonels a 13-5 lead late in the first quarter, only to see the Raiders answer with 10 straight points and a 16-4 run overall to go up 21-17 midway through the second period.
EKU, though, responded with nine unanswered points and led 29-25 at the break following a Jalen O'Bannon jumper with just over a minute remaining.
Both teams struggled shooting-wise in the first half as Eastern Kentucky shot 37 percent overall and was one of nine from three-point range, while WSU shot 34 percent and was one of 10 from behind the arc.
Eastern's lead was 43-38 before Wright State went back ahead with an 11-1 burst, five coming from Simmons. The Colonels, though, tallied the final five points of the stanza to tie the game at 51 heading into the final period.
Emily Vogelpohl connected on a three with four minutes left to put WSU up 66-65 and the margin was still one after a Lexi Smith basket two minutes later. EKU, however, regained the lead at 69-68 on an O'Bannon basket at the 1:34 mark.
It remained a one-point contest as Wright State gained possession off an Eastern miss with 21 seconds left. Simmons took a pass from Antania Hayes and drained a three from the left corner with 6.1 seconds to play to put the Raiders up for good.
The Colonels had one final chance, but Simmons came up with a block on a baseline jumper and WSU was able to run out the closing seconds.
The Raiders shot 44 percent in the second half, including seven of 11 from three, and were seven of nine at the foul line while Eastern Kentucky shot 44 percent, two of five from three, and was 16 of 18 from the line.
Vogelpohl led WSU with a season-high 20 points, 11 coming in the fourth quarter, while Simmons had 12 points off the bench as the Raider reserves outscored the Colonel bench 27-7.
Wright State (9-2), which is off to its best start through 11 games in school history, hosts Mount St. Joseph on Tuesday, December 15, at 7:00.
