Women’s Basketball continues HL play on the road

Thursday, January 26

Youngstown, OH

7 PM

Wright State University

Youngstown State

Photo by: Jerold Wilkins

1/24/2023 3:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

DAYTON — The Wright State women's basketball program continues its conference schedule on the road against Youngstown State on Thursday, January 26, and Robert Morris on Saturday, January 28. Both games will broadcast on ESPN+, while live stats will also be available.

THE SLATE
Jan. 26 at Youngstown State | 7 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats | Game Notes
Jan. 28 at Robert Morris | 1 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats | Game Notes

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State could not sustain an early double-digit lead, as Purdue Fort Wayne pulled away for a 72-55 win over the Raiders last Sunday. WSU raced out to a 13-0 lead and led 15-8 by the end of the first quarter. However, PFW outscored the Raiders 64-40 over the remaining three quarters to seal the comeback win.

WSU had three players score in double figures, led by Emily Chapman with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Kacee Baumhower finished with 13 points, three rebounds, and three assists, while Bryce Nixon totaled 12 points on four 3-pointers. Cara VanKempen pulled down a season-high eight rebounds in addition to WSU's lone block of the Horizon League contest. Makiya Miller, Baumhower, and Nixon recorded multiple steals to help the Raiders' defensive efforts.

SCOUTING THE PENGUINS
Youngstown State is 14-5 overall and tied for first in the Horizon League standings with an 8-2 mark against conference opponents. The preseason-favorite Penguins have won six of their last seven games, highlighted by a 63-60 victory at Green Bay last weekend.

Preseason All-Horizon League First-Team selection Lilly Ritz is averaging a double-double with 17.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Malia Magestro (11.3 ppg) and Megan Callahan (10.4 ppg) also score double figures. As a team, Youngstown State tops the conference in assists per game (16.6) and defensive rebounding (28.1 rpg).

HISTORY VS. YSU
Wright State leads the series 39-28. The Raiders have held the upper hand as of late, winning 11 of the last 15 meetings. The two programs met in December 2022, with YSU finishing on top 76-62. WSU had three players score in double figures, led by Makiya Miller with 14 points.

SCOUTING THE COLONIALS
Robert Morris is 8-11 overall and ninth in the Horizon League with a 2-8 record. The Colonials opened the 2022-23 season 6-1 overall, but has only won twice over its following 12 games. RMU boasts one of the top defenses in the Horizon League, leading the conference with top-25 national marks in 3-point percentage defense (8th, 24.7%) and turnover margin (22nd, 5.16).

Sophomore forward Phoenix Gedeon leads the team in scoring (13.8) and rebounding (8.3 rpg) while sophomore center Danielle Vuletich is averaging 7.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.

HISTORY VS. RMU
The Raiders trail 7-3 to RMU in the all-time series. The Colonials won 68-47 over Wright State in the first matchup between the two teams this season. Isabelle Bolender paced WSU in the loss with a team-high 13 points.

Two seasons ago, Channing Chappell recorded a career and season-high 22 points on the road against Robert Morris, as the Florida native finished the contest shooting a perfect 100%, shooting 7-of-7 from the field, 6-of-6 from 3-point range, and 2-of-2 from the line.

MILESTONE WATCH
Emily Chapman is nearing 1,500 career points (currently at 1,442 points) and 500 career rebounds (currently at 457 rebounds) in her collegiate career. The guard spent her first four seasons at nearby Cedarville University, where she was a two-time All-GMAC selection and NCCAA All-America Second Team selection in 2021. Fellow Cedarville transfer Isabelle Bolender is up 865 points over 80 collegiate games.

HOT FROM DEEP
Bryce Nixon ranks second in the Horizon League in 3-pointers per game (2.50) and total 3-pointers (50) while ranking third in 3-point percentage (40.7%). The senior guard is averaging a team-high 11.8 points per game, highlighted by a career-best 24 points versus Southern Indiana (12/17), 20 points at Eastern Illinois (11/28), and an 18-point performance on six 3-pointers at Detroit Mercy (1/13). She has scored in double figures in a team-best 12 games.

SHOWING OFF RANGE
The Raiders rank sixth in the country and first in the HL with 9.6 3-pointers per game. Wright State has netted double-figure 3-pointers on 10 occasions, including five times in its last six games. WSU has combined for 75 threes on 189 attempts (39.6%) in the span, highlighted by a school record 18 3-pointers versus CSU (1/20) and 15 3-pointers (matched previous school record) at Detroit Mercy (1/13).

TOUGH TESTS
Fourteen of the 19 Division I opponents Wright State has faced this season boast winning records, which include eight programs with five or fewer losses and seven teams in the NET top 100. WSU squared off against a pair of teams that reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 last season (Ohio State and Tennessee) during the non-conference portion of its schedule in addition to the Mid-American Conference's top-two teams (Toledo and Bowling Green).

CHAP AT HER BEST
Emily Chapman has proven to be a threat in her first year with the Raiders, as she leads the team in 3-point shooting (47.6%), rebounding (3.4 rpg), and assists (2.2 apg), while ranking second in shooting percentage (49.2%) and steals (0.9 spg) and third in scoring (8.7 ppg). The Proctorville, Ohio native poured in a season-best 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting at Tennessee (12/11) and has scored in double figures in four of her last seven games. The 5-5 senior guard has been WSU's leading rebounder in five games and tallied a season-high four steals at IUPUI (1/1).

FINDING A GROOVE
Kacee Baumhower has reached double-figure scoring in seven of her last eight games, highlighted by a career-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting and a 5-of-6 clip on 3-pointers at UDM (1/13). The sophomore guard is averaging a team-high 12.3 points on 44.8% (43-of-96) shooting in conference-only play. Baumhower leads the team in free throw makes (29) and free throw attempts (47) while also ranking second in rebounding (3.0 rpg) and blocks (0.4 bpg).

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Makiya Miller collected Horizon League Freshman of the Week honors (12/26) after averaging 7.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.0 steals over two games at the Hawk Classic in Philadelphia, Pa. Through 20 games, Miller leads WSU freshmen in scoring (6.3 ppg), assists per game (1.8), and minutes per game (23.3). She scored in double figures in her opening three games as a Raider, becoming the first freshman player in the last 17 seasons to do so.

TAKE NOTICE
Lauren Scott has shot 39.5% (15-of-38) on 3-pointers, good for third on the team. The freshman guard has gone an improved 12-of-22 (54.5%) from deep in home games, highlighted by a season-high 15 points on a 3-of-5 mark on threes against Cleveland State (1/20).

WRIGHT FIT
Bryce Nixon joined Wright State with 317 career points over four collegiate seasons (105 games). The transfer guard has totaled 236 points (11.8 ppg) in just 20 games with the Raiders.

UP NEXT
The Raiders will head back to the Nutter Center for home games against Northern Kentucky on Thursday, February 2, and IUPUI on Saturday, February 4.