Following a tough loss that saw Wright State surrender a season-high 112 points to their annual cross-town opponent Dayton Thursday, the Raiders went back to the basics against the Detroit Titans, forcing a slew of turnovers and making life difficult for their opponent on offense.
WSU's defense forced 29 turnovers and helped keep the Titans' leading scorer Senee Shearer under wraps in a 82-57 win to open its Horizon League conference schedule Sunday afternoon at the Nutter Center.
Shearer came into the game averaging the most 3-point field goals made per game in the country at 3.92 and ranked third in the Horizon League in 3-point field goal percentage. Against the Raiders, Shearer failed to connect from behind the arc and was saddled with foul trouble for the entire game.
She finished with six points on 3-of-16 shooting and played only 17 minutes.
"We tried to take [the ball] out of her hands as much as we could, but she was in foul trouble. She's a great player," Bradbury said. "Trust me...I don't know that we made her do all that."
The Raiders' leading scorer Kim Demmings said Shearer had an off day, but added that when both teams meet again on Feb. 22, Demmings expects Shearer to return to form.
"We definitely had a plan set in to trap her off the ball screen, but she's a great player and she did not get the shots she wanted today. The other best player (Elisha Crosby) was out, so when they come back and we got them again, it's going to be a good game," said Demmings, who notched 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
The Raiders held the Titans to only nine made field goals in the first half and carried a 17-point lead into the locker room. UDM's zone defense did little to prevent WSU from getting open looks from the perimeter. The Raiders attempted 24 more threes and 29 more field goals than the Titans.
"It's a little different matchup than we've seen before. They played a triangle and two in guarding me and Kim or me and KC [Elkins], so when I was open, that's my job, I was supposed to shoot it. In the first half I didn't do my job very well, so I had to pick it up in the second half," said Abby Jump, who finished 12 points on four 3-pointers.
Ivory James led WSU with 21 points. Elkins added 10 points and six assists.
The Raiders (1-0, 12-4) will remain at home against conference-newcomer Oakland on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
