Wright State University
18-5, 7-2HL
Valparaiso
5-17, 1-8HL
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valparaiso | 42 | 24 | 66 |
| Wright State | 40 | 55 | 95 |
Women Score 55 in Second Half to Defeat Valparaiso
2/7/2015 5:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Trailing by two at the half, the Wright State women's basketball team outscored Valparaiso 55-24 the final 20 minutes to defeat the Crusaders 95-66 Saturday afternoon at WSU's Nutter Center.
The first half was a back and forth affair with eight ties and five lead changes. A 7-0 run gave the Raiders a 35-29 advantage at the 3:38 mark, only to see the Crusaders tie it at 39 on an Anne Hamilton three with 19 seconds remaining.
Richelle van der Keijl hit a foul shot with four seconds left to give WSU the lead again, but Jessica Carr gave Valpo the 42-40 halftime edge as she connected on a three from midcourt just ahead of the horn.
Both teams shot the ball well in the opening 20 minutes as Wright State hit for 53 percent while Valparaiso was at 45 percent.
A Lexi Miller jumper to open the second half gave the Crusaders a four-point lead before a Symone Denham three-point play and two Tay'ler Mingo foul shots put the Raiders up for good at 45-44 with 16:54 left.
It was still a one-point game until an 8-0 run, capped off by a pair of Courtney Boyd threes, made it 57-48 with 13:57 to play. WSU later broke the game open with a 26-3 run over a 4:23 span, eight of those coming from Breanna Stucke and six each from Tayler Stanton and Mingo.
Wright State shot 53 percent from the field again in the second half, including seven of 12 from three-point range, while holding Valpo to 28 percent shooting overall and one of nine from behind the arc. The Raiders also led in points in the paint (38-20) and points off of turnovers (18-2).
Three WSU players posted double-doubles for the game, led by Mingo's 27 points and a career-high 11 assists, with 14 points and eight assists coming in the second half. Mingo's previous career best in assists was 10 against Oakland on January 8, 2014, and versus Cleveland State on January 24 of this season.
Stucke had 15 points and 12 rebounds while Denham added 11 points, tying a career high, and a career-best 10 boards. Stanton nearly had a double-double of 12 points and nine rebounds and also tallied five blocks.
Dani Franklin paced Valparaiso (5-17, 1-8 Horiozn) with 20 points off the bench, 13 coming in the first half, while Sharon Karungi recorded a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Wright State (18-5, 7-2 Horizon) begins a three-game road swing in a big way Thursday night as the Raiders face league-leading Green Bay (18-4, 8-1 Horizon) at the Kress Events Center. Tip-off is at 8:00 Eastern.
