PHILADELPHIA — The Wright State women's basketball program opened the Hawk Classic with a 70-62 loss against tournament host Saint Joseph's on Tuesday afternoon at the Michael J. Hagan '85 Arena.
Bryce Nixon scored in double figures for the seventh time in her last nine games, as she finished with a team-leading 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting in addition to four rebounds and two steals.
Channing Chappell had 10 points in just 17 minutes of action, while Cara Vankempen recorded season-high marks in points (9) and rebounds (5).
Isabelle Bolender and
Makiya Miller contributed with eight points and three rebounds apiece.
Wright State (1-10, 0-2 HL) went 9-of-25 (36%) on 3-pointers, including multiple makes from deep by Chappell, Miller, Nixon, and VanKempen. The Raider offense held advantages in bench points (16-0) and fastbreak points (8-3), while the defense forced Saint Joseph's (10-1) to 15 turnovers.
The Hawks struggled with only three 3-point makes on 13 attempts but still finished 45.3% (24-of-53) from the floor. SJU had most of its success down low, with edges in points in the paint (40-22) and rebounding (36-25). Saint Joseph's also went 19-of-22 (86.4%) from the free throw line to preserve its seventh consecutive home win.
WSU kept the game close despite trailing for almost the entirety of the non-conference matchup. All four quarters were decided by four or fewer points, including both teams with 16 points in the last period.
Saint Joseph's pushed its lead to double digits, 29-18, after making two free throws with 5:07 to go in the first half. However, Wright State went on a late 5-0 run to trim SJU's advantage to 33-28 at the 2:08 minute mark of the second quarter. The WSU deficit remained at five points as the Raiders entered halftime down 35-30.
The Hawks used a 9-0 run to gain their largest lead of the game, 52-35, at the midway point of the third quarter. Wright State outscored SJU 11-2 over the last five minutes to enter the final quarter trailing 54-46. Nixon netted a pair of 3-pointers to keep the Raiders, while Chappell had five points to pace WSU in the quarter.
Wright State got its deficit down to 64-59 with 2:09 left in the game following a turnaround jumper by Nixon. However, WSU was scoreless until a 3-pointer by VanKempen with eight seconds left.
VanKempen scored all nine points of her total points in the fourth quarter to spark a possible comeback.
The Raiders will conclude the Hawk Classic tomorrow at 1 p.m. versus the loser between James Madison and Eastern Michigan.
