Women’s Basketball hosts Ohio Dominican for lone exhibition

Saturday, October 29

Dayton, OH

3 PM

Wright State University

Ohio Dominican (EX)

Photo by: Jessica Roberts

Women’s Basketball hosts Ohio Dominican for lone exhibition

10/28/2022 10:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

DAYTON — The Wright State women's basketball program hosts Ohio Dominican for its lone exhibition contest on Saturday, October 29, inside the Nutter Center. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. on ESPN+. Admission will be free for all spectators.

GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, October 29 - 3 p.m. - Watch - Live Stats

HISTORY VS. ODU
Wright State holds a 6-1 record in seven regular-season meetings against Ohio Dominican. The squads last met in the regular season during the 1980-81 season, resulting in a 91-52 victory for the Raiders.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Ohio Dominican went 5-23 overall and 5-17 in conference action a season ago. The Panthers return four starters, including two-time All-GMAC guard Gabby Stare. Melanie Balcomb enters her first year as head coach after spending the 2021-22 campaign as an assistant with the Panthers. Notably, Balcomb spent 14 seasons as the head coach of the Vanderbilt women's basketball program, compiling a 310-149 overall record with 12 NCAA Tournament appearances and four trips to the Sweet 16.

NEW-LOOK RAIDERS
This year's women's basketball roster features 12 newcomers, including five upperclassmen transfers and seven freshmen.

VETERAN PRESENCE
Wright State's five upperclassmen transfers bring a wealth of experience to the Raiders with a combined 370 games of collegiate basketball, including 156 starts. Bryce Nixon played in 33 games as a freshman at Arizona, the third-most by a first-year player in program history.

Emily Chapman » 107 games (74 starts) over four seasons at Cedarville
Bryce Nixon » 55 games (6 starts) over two seasons at Santa Clara — 50 games over two seasons at Arizona
Cara VanKempen » 75 games (24 starts) over three seasons at Valparaiso
Isabelle Bolender » 60 games (52 starts) over three seasons at Cedarville
Rachel Loobie » 23 games over two seasons at Central Michigan

CEDARVILLE TO WRIGHT STATE
Emily Chapman and Isabelle Bolender played under current Raider head coach Kari Hoffman for multiple seasons at nearby Cedarville University. Chapman, a two-time All-GMAC selection, earned NCCAA All-America Second Team honors in Hoffman's final season with the Yellowjackets after averaging 13.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists. Bolender averaged 11.9 points on 51% shooting in 60 career games at Cedarville, earning GMAC Freshman of the Year in 2020 and NCCAA Midwest Region First Team accolades the following season.

BACK FOR YEAR 3
Channing Chappell enters her third season with the Raiders after leading the team in minutes per game (33.1) and free throw percentage (.792) over 23 starts a year ago. The junior guard reached double-figure scoring in seven games, highlighted by 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting against Bradley.

SHOOTING SPARK
Makira Webster appeared in 22 games (6 starts) in her first season with the Raiders after spending two years at Wabash Valley Community College. The Sidney, Ohio native provided a spark in long-range shooting, as she ranked second on the team in 3-point percentage (.326), which included multiple deep balls in five games.

EARLY TESTS
The Raiders will open the regular season on November 7 at Toledo, a team that compiled a 29-6 overall record last year with a near-perfect 19-1 mark in the Mid-American Conference. WSU will also square off against a pair of teams that reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 last season in Ohio State and Tennessee. Wright State will close its non-conference slate at the Hawk Classic from December 20-21, hosted by Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia, Pa.

HL SLATE
Each Horizon League team will play a 20-game double round-robin schedule. Wright State's conference schedule gets underway at the Nutter Center on December 2 versus Robert Morris and concludes with home games against Oakland on February 23 and Detroit Mercy on February 25.

BUILT IN OHIO
Six of WSU's seven total freshmen played high school basketball in Ohio — two from Greater Dayton, two from Greater Columbus, and two from Greater Cleveland. In total, ten individuals on Wright State's 15-player roster are from Ohio.

RAIDER LEADERSHIP
The Raiders are set for their second season under the direction of head coach Kari Hoffman, who was introduced as the eighth head coach in program history in May 2021. Hoffman joined the Raiders after serving as the head coach at nearby Cedarville University for five seasons, where she won 106 games, led the Yellow Jackets to three regular season conference titles, and was named the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2021. Hoffman also earned NCCAA Midwest Region Coach of the Year honors in 2019 and 2020. In addition to Hoffman, assistant coaches John Leonzo, Megan Leuzinger, Patrick Bain, and Abby Wolford enter their second season at Wright State.

GET YOUR TICKETS
Season tickets for the Raider women's basketball campaign are on sale through WSURaiders.com or by contacting the ticket office at (937) 775-4936, starting as low as $40. Single-game tickets are as low as $5, with general admission seating throughout the arena.

PRESEASON POLL
The Raiders finished tenth in the 2022 Horizon League preseason poll with 26 points, which the league's 11 head coaches voted on. Youngstown State (118 points) was selected to win the conference with a league-high eight first-place votes, followed by Green Bay (106 points, 2 first-place votes) and Cleveland State (102 points, 1 first-place vote) in the second and third slots.

UP NEXT
The Raiders will open the regular season at Toledo on Monday, November 7. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. in the non-conference matchup.