Wright State's women's basketball team opened up its season with a 113-80 win against the Ashland Eagles. The Raiders were led by Kim Demmings with 24 points and Tay'ler Mingo with 20 points and six assists. Fellow senior Tayler Stanton also gave the Raiders a big lift, adding 15 points and 10 rebounds.
“I was nervous at first. Everyone keeps talking about how we have six seniors coming back. It’s like now we’re the targets,” said Stanton.
The Raiders will definitely be a target this year after winning the conference title last year, and tonight was a good start. It was an overall good offensive showing for Wright State with every player recording at least one field goal, shooting a team percentage of 46 percent from the field.
The Raiders exploded in the first half scoring 62 points and causing 15 turnovers from Ashland. The backcourt of the Raiders dominated from tip with Demmings scoring 14 points and three 3 pointers in the first 10 minutes of the game. Mingo helped balance out the attack scoring and dishing off the ball and ended the half with 18 points and five assists.
In the second half, with the game beginning to get out of reach for the Eagles, WSU head coach Mike Bradbury let his freshmen get as much floor time as possible in the exhibition.
The four freshmen stepped up and maintained the lead for the Raiders throughout the second half. Ciara Patterson led the group of freshmen in scoring with 13 points and three 3 ponters, with Kendyl Hinton right behind her adding 12 points on 3-4 from the field and 5-6 from the free throw line.
Bradbury commented on the freshmen, “Those kids are talented. They looked fine today, but we’ve got a long way to go,”
Sophomore Richelle Van Der Keijl made her highly anticipated debut after missing all of last season from an Achilles injury. Standing at 6-foot 5, she made an immediate impact on the floor just by standing in the paint. Bradbury planned to give her more minutes tonight to see what she can potentially offer to the team this year, but her night was cut short as she fouled out early in the second half.
“I wanted to play her more minutes, so that was frustrating,” said Bradbury.
The Raiders will open up regular season play on Nov. 14 in Clarksville, Tenn. against Austin Peay.
