NEWPORT, Ky. – Wright State finished the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 72-60 win over Northern Kentucky Saturday afternoon heading into its conference opener against Horizon League juggernaut Green Bay on Wednesday.
The Raiders got off to a slow start and trailed by as many as 10 in the first half, but recovered in the second half to outscore the Norse 44-26 in the half.
Wright State was led by senior guard Tay’ler Mingo who had 19 points, six steals and five assists. Breanna Stucke had 16 points, which matches her season high. Senior guard Courtney Boyd added 10 points and a team-leading eight rebounds for the Raiders.
“It is tough out there on the road and (NKU) is a top four team if they were in our league,” Wright State head coach Mike Bradbury said. “For some reason, they aren’t in our league. To be able to get a win like this, hopefully it has some carryover down the road.”
Northern Kentucky was led by Melody Doss who scored 17 points and had 14 rebounds.
The Raiders finish the non-conference slate 11-3, which marks the best start through 14 games in program history for Wright State.
“You would probably take that (record) at the beginning,” Bradbury said.
With the game tied at 18 at the seven-minute mark of the first half, the Norse went on a 12-2 run powered by bench player Shar’Rae Davis who scored six points during the run. NKU had a 30-20 lead with four minutes remaining in the first.
Abby Jump cut the Norse lead to six at the buzzer going into halftime as she hit a 3.
The Raiders immediately started the second half by going inside to center Tayler Stanton. Stanton got to the line on back-to-back possessions forcing NKU into foul trouble and cutting into the Norse’s lead.
“We got more aggressive and stop playing the zone,” Bradbury said. “We made a concerted effort to get after them and try to turn them over and play harder. We looked like we were in Quicksand out there in the first half and we were way better in the second half.”
Wright State took its first lead of the second half when Courtney Boyd hit a pair of free throws with 14:13 remaining in the game to give WSU a 41-40 advantage.
After NKU’s Kelley Wiegman hit back-to-back free throws to give NKU its last lead of the game at 42-41 with 13:08 left, WSU went on a 9-0 run.
Wright State held a double-digit lead for most of the final 10 minutes of the contest. Wright State took advantage of its opportunity on the free throw line in the second half by draining 19 out of 24 free throws in the second half.
“We started really sluggish in the beginning but in the second half, we kind of huddled together and said, ‘It is time for us to be tough,” Mingo said. “I think it was one of our better jobs we have done, especially on the defensive end. We locked it down.”
The Raiders return to the Nutter Center Wednesday to host the defending Horizon League regular season champs Green Bay in a rematch of the Horizon League title game.
The Raiders last defeated the Phoenix in the Nutter Center in 2004 as Green Bay has won 11 in a row over Wright State in Fairborn. Bradbury still considers Green Bay the favorite to win the league this year.
“To me, it is not that big of a deal,” Bradbury said. “People make it a big deal. Whatever, they’re the best team. Whatever. We’re huge underdogs and we are every time we play them. They are probably 20 points better than they were last year and we’re probably 20 points worse. They have won it 16 years in a row, how are they not the favorite?”
