Wright State defeated Illinois-Chicago Wednesday by a score of 74-54. The Raiders clinched the No. 2 seed for next week’s Horizon League Championships with the win and continue to lead the conference in scoring with an average of 78 points per game.
The game marked senior guard Courtney Boyd’s 125th career game at WSU. She is now tied with KC Elkins for second in school history and trails teammate Breanna Stucke by three games.
“They’re two great kids,” said head coach Mike Bradbury. “Whenever this is all said and done and hopefully we’re a long way off, those kids will be recognized in the right way.”
Stucke hit back to back 3s at the start of the game to give WSU a 6-0 lead. The Raiders never looked back as they went on a 34-9 run with 12:38 left to gain a 29 point lead at the intermission. WSU posted one of their best defensive halves by holding UIC to 15 points on 18.5 percent shooting and winning the rebound battle by eight.
Guard Tay’ler Mingo led all scorers at the break with 12 points and guard Abby Jump hit 3 of 5 three pointers for nine points. Forward Ruvanna Campbell paced the Flames with seven.
“I thought we played well in the first half,” said Bradbury. “We played with a lot of energy and a lot of effort. I thought we played well and I think they didn’t.”
In the half, Mingo made her 365th career free throw at WSU which broke the previous school record of 364 held by Brittney Whiteside.
“I think that means I’m being physical and I like being physical” said Mingo. “When I miss, it’s a little frustrating because I don’t think I’m going to miss it. When it rolls out it’s so annoying but it happens, it’s part of the game.”
The Flames went on a 19-11 run to start the second half to cut the lead to 21. They would not come any closer to the Raiders as Mingo scored 15 seconds half points for a total of 27. Her average on the season in now 22.6, ranking eighth in the NCAA.
WSU scored 30 points in the paint and shot 44.6 percent for the game. The Raiders made 17 of 24 free throw attempts and received 23 points off of the bench. Jump finished with 14 points on 4-of-6 field goal attempts behind the arc. Forward Richelle van der Keijl scored nine, while forwards Tayler Stanton and Stucke each scored eight. Campbell led UIC with 21 points followed by Kendyl Nunn with 15 and Melita Emanuel-Carr with 13.
“We’re playing well,” said Bradbury. “We’ve already forgot about this one and we’re on to the next one.”
The Raiders are 22-7 on the season and 11-4 in the Horizon League. They will host Milwaukee at the Nutter Center on Sat. March 7 for Senior Day and their final game of the regular season. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.
