Jan. 14, 2010

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DAYTON, Ohio – The Wright State women’s basketball team rallied from 17-points down in the second half to send the game to overtime, but Loyola outscored the Green and Gold 7-0 in the extra frame to capture a 63-56 decision in overtime at the Ervin J. Nutter Center on Thursday evening. Erica Richardson posted a double-double in the contest and WSU made more field goals than the Ramblers, but LU held a 15-5 edge from the free throw stripe in the Horizon League contest.

The Raiders took an early lead on a pair of baskets from Molly Fox and Richardson to open the scoring in the contest, but Loyola scored the next seven points of the game and never relinquished that lead. The Rambler lead would grow to nine points, 20-11, on a Keisha Collins jumper with 5:17 to play in the opening half, before WSU would trim that to three with a 6-0 spurt.

Monica Albano knocked down a three pointer and Collins converted a jumper and forced a turnover to end the half with Loyola leading 25-17. The Ramblers shot 39-percent, compared to 35-percent for WSU, with the Raiders holding a 16-15 edge on the boards and a 6-0 advantage in second chance points.

Fox and Richardson each scored six in the opening frame for the Raiders, but Albano tallied ten for the Ramblers off the bench. The score was tied only once in the first half, a 4-4 knot at the 16:17 mark, and Loyola led by as many as nine in the opening stanza.

In the second half, the Ramblers opened up an 11-point lead when Collins knocked down a three pointer to start the scoring. The lead would hang around the 11-point mark until WSU scored six straight points, two coming on a Kanisha Ward layup and four coming from LaShawna Thomas, to cut the Ramblers lead to just six at 38-32 with 10:33 to play.

Loyola (9-7, 3-2 HL) would score the next 11 points and push their lead to 17 points with 7:33 to play in the contest, but Wright State would mount a comeback, led by Richardson and Thomas. Thomas scored six and Richardson tallied seven points during a 24-7 run over the final seven minutes to knot the game at 56-56.

The Raiders trailed by four points with just under a minute to play when Fox scored a layup to make it a 55-53 Loyola lead. After Ellen Ayoub made one-of-two free throws, Paige Lowe knocked down a three pointer from the right wing – her first career three pointer – to tie the contest at 56-56, with 33-seconds to play.

The Raiders stole the ensuing inbounds pass after a Rambler timeout and had one last chance to connect on the game winner. With time winding down, the Ramblers trapped Maria Bennett and forced a turnover and their last gasp three just missed, sending the contest into overtime.

In the extra frame, Loyola held WSU scoreless, while Maggie McCloskey and Collins each hit three pointers and Brittany Boeke added a free throw to cap the scoring. It was the first overtime contest of the season for WSU and Loyola took home their first overtime win of the season, 63-56.

Thomas paced the Raiders with 14 points, while Richardson claimed her first career double-double with 13 points and ten rebounds. Fox missed a double-double by just one rebound, ended the night with nine, while scoring 12 points. Ward dished out four assists and played all 45 minutes, while Bennett and Lowe each scored three points in the loss.

Collins paced all scorers with 22 for the Ramblers, with the Ramblers holding the edge in points off turnovers (17-11) and bench points (25-5).

The Green and Gold, now 5-9 overall and 1-3 in league play, will return to action on Saturday, January 16 when they entertain UIC starting at 1:00 at the Ervin J. Nutter Center.

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