While the Harlem Globetrotters were dazzling basketball fans in the Nutter Center Wednesday, Wright State amazed a smaller crowd in its auxiliary gym by scoring a record-setting 118 points in a 48-point win over Central State.
The only thing that was missing in McLin Gym was the ladder and bucket of confetti as the Raiders topped their previous scoring record by 13 points, which was set versus St. Joseph’s on Feb. 4, 1987.
The Raiders are off to their best start in program history at 10-3.
The Raiders were off to the races shooting their best field goal percentage of the season at 56.8 percent. This performance was a vast difference between the Raiders’ performance 10 days ago against Purdue when WSU shot 22 percent from the field.
“We just made shots, it is something we have been working on,” WSU forward Tayler Stanton said. “It is routine now. If we keep shooting, it will make us better.”
For WSU head coach Mike Bradbury, it takes more than just practice to turn around the Raiders’ poor shooting on the road.
“It takes confidence and to have confidence, you can’t trick yourself into being confident,” Bradbury said. “You have to be successful to be confident. When you go in and shoot, you have to practice making them. Everyone is like practice, practice, practice. If you practice missing, if you practice poorly, then practice hurts you. I think going in there and working on it helped us build confidence.”
Wright State’s Tay’ler Mingo led all scorers with 21 point. Ciara Patterson, JJ Williams, Richelle van der Keijl and Courtney Boyd were all in double figures for the Raiders. Wednesday marked Boyd’s first double-double as she has 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Wright State outrebounded the Marauders 50-30 in the contest.
After starting off the game 1-for-9 from the field and trailing 6-2, the Raiders responded by shooting 20-of-24 for a stretch in the first half to take a commanding lead.
Despite WSU shooting well from the field, Stanton picked up six offensive rebounds. Giving the Raiders second chances is important as WSU came into Wednesday’s contest shooting 37 percent.
“I am just doing my job, I tell myself all the time, ‘I am the garbage man,” Stanton said. “You miss your shot, I can clean up and take care of you.”
Wright State held a 63-35 lead at halftime.
In the second half, Bradbury was able to use a variety of lineups while keeping his starting five fresh. All 11 healthy players on the roster played at least 12 minutes with no one playing more than 23.
The Raiders return to action Saturday for their nonconference finale at Northern Kentucky. Given that WSU has shot 22 percent from the field in both its last two true road games, Bradbury is hoping the confidence built at home over the last two games carries with the Raiders on the road.
“I hope (it can carry over),” Bradbury said. “I can’t see why it shouldn’t. We have been a good road team historically, so I expect we’ll play well.”
