Wright State bounced back Saturday with a win at home against Oakland 92-66. Forward Richelle van der Keijl scored a game-high 18 points on 7-of-10 field goals and 12 rebounds for her first career double-double.
Guard JJ Williams got her first start of the season in place of Breanna Stucke who surpassed KC Elkins as WSU Women’s basketball career games leader with 125 games played. Stucke did not start the game because of an eye injury suffered in the Cleveland State game on Thursday, but checked in with a minute left.
“This kid has been a warrior,” Wright State head coach Mike Bradbury said. “She’s not out for the year. She’s never missed a practice and never missed a game. This would have been her first but I felt like she deserves to keep that going.”
The Raiders got off to a hot start in the first half by scoring 10 unanswered points after the tip. They established themselves in the paint early with 26 points compared to 10 for Oakland and shot 51.4 percent for the half. Van der Keijl led all players with 15 points and seven rebounds as WSU led by 20 at the break 51-31.
After the intermission, Oakland came out with an early 7-1 run to cut the lead to 14. but would not close the gap any closer as WSU got back to the success they had in the first half.
Overall, the Raiders finished with a 44.3 shooting percentage and outscored Oakland in the paint by 16. WSU had 37 points off of the bench in the game and had five players score in double figures. Guard Tay’ler Mingo scored 17 points and dished out 7 assists while forward Tayler Stanton collected her 15th career double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Guards Abby Jump and Courtney Boyd each hit four 3 pointers and finished with 16 points in the game.
“We play with who we’ve got,” said Bradbury. “We’re a close bunch and we’re going to stick together and fight for each other.”
The Raiders (20-7, 8-4) will travel to Detroit (10-15, 5-7) on Thursday Feb 21 for a matchup with the Titans. Wright State won the matchup at the Nutter Center on Jan.10 by a score of 76-57. WSU outscored Detroit in the paint by 12 points in the game and collected nine more points off of turnovers. Mingo scored 27 points in the game and collected six steals and six rebounds. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
