Wright State's women’s basketball team finally pulled away from Southeastern Louisiana Monday night, 106-72 after trailing 21-16 after the first quarter.
Junior forward Antania Hayes had her best game of the season with a 15-point, 10-rebound effort that sparked the Raiders.
“This was Hayes’ best game to date,” head coach Mike Bradbury said. “She had five offensive rebounds and that’s something that she can do and do with anybody in the country.”
“This will not be her best game,” Bradbury said.
Hayes went into Monday night’s game averaging 6.5 points and 6.8 rebounds, but shooting just 37 percent from the field. Monday, her basket-attacking style produced 5-of-11 from the field an 5-of-7 from the free throw line.
“It feels real good. My team kept me up even though I was struggling a little bit,” Hayes said.
The Raiders (5-1) opened the first quarter with a 7-0 run before SLU used a 7-0 run of their own to tie the game. After trading baskets, SLU used a 12-5 run to close out the first quarter.
The Raiders finally came to life in the second quarter, using a 14-0 run on a pair of free throws by Hayes to put the Raiders up 39-27 with 2:02 remaining. A 9-3 run by SLU closed out the second quarter as WSU led 41-35.
“I thought we got off to a slow start, but really wasn’t giving quite the effort that we needed to,” Bradbury said. “We really picked that up halfway through the second quarter. From that point on we played pretty well.”
“Pretty well” is a pretty big understatement, as SLU got within five points to open the third quarter, but that’s the last time they would see any chance of a come back. The Raiders’ 16-3 run blew the game wide open as Wright State outscored SLU 30-14 in the third quarter alone.
A 65-point second half wasn’t enough for Bradbury to call this game the “best” of the season so far, opting for a different phrase for this team’s performance.
“It’s the best we’ve shot it,” Bradbury said laughing. “We need Mackenzie (Taylor) and Emily (Vogelpohl) to make threes because they’re good at it.”
Taylor and Vogelpohl combined for 7-of-13 from three, as both freshmen reached double figures with 13 and 17 (season-high) points respectively.
Wright State had five players total in double figures, with Kim Demmings leading all Raiders with 18 points, while Riche van der Keijl pitched in 14.
Every player who checked in, scored—a Raiders first this season.
Wright State (4-1) travels to Texas for the Lone Star Showcase and will face Iowa. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m.
