Senior guard Kim Demmings scored eight fourth quarter points with a game-high 22 as Wright State women’s basketball team collected their third straight conference win with a 66-61 victory against Northern Kentucky (9-4; Horizon 1-2) on Saturday, Jan. 9.
“She (Demmings) made a couple big ones down the stretch,” head coach Mike Bradbury said. “Hayes had a big offensive rebound put-back and we made just enough plays to win.”
The Raiders led 62-61 with 2:09 remaining before senior center Richelle van der Keilj made a jumper with 1:16 left to give WSU a three-point lead. Junior forward Antania Hayes grabbed an offensive rebound after a Demmings miss with 26 seconds remaining and got the put-back to go to put the Raiders up five.
Van der Keijl finished with her fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
The Raiders dominated the first quarter as they led 12-0, holding the Norse scoreless in the first 6:50. WSU closed the quarter on a 12-8 run, making the score 24-8 after the first.
Wright State continued to find success in the second quarter as they sparked an 18-7 run in the first 6:28 to gain their largest lead at 42-17. The Norse retaliated with a 10-2 run to end the half trailing by 17.
Northern Kentucky mounted a comeback in the opening 4:22 of the second half as they out-scored the Raiders 10-2 to cut the deficit to nine points.
“They were more aggressive than us,” Bradbury said. “We lost our attack mentality and they whipped us.”
Wright State retaliated with a 7-2 run over the next 3:42 before the Norse closed the quarter on a 6-1 run cutting the deficit to nine at the end of three quarters.
The Norse continued to play well with a 6-0 run in the first 1:32 of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to three points.
Wright State was scoreless in the first 3:54 of the quarter until Demmings drained a three at the right wing to end a 12-1 run and give the Raiders a 57-51 lead with 6:06 to go. The Norse bounced back with six straight points but could not gain a lead.
"We've got a couple of seniors that lead us," Bradbury said. "We stuck together and nobody was blaming anybody. We didn't play well but we hung in there and did just enough."
Northern Kentucky never held a lead in the game but out-scored the Raiders 34-22 in the second half.
"We've got a lot to work on," Bradbury said.
Senior guard Christine Roush finished with a team-high 16 points for the Norse followed by junior guard Shar'Rae Davis with 11.
Demmings now has 2,278 career points at WSU and is 25 points shy of the All-Time record for men and women set by Bill Edwards from 1989-93.
Wright State (12-3; Horizon 3-0) will travel to Detroit (6-8; Horizon 2-1) on Thursday, Jan. 14 for a matchup with the Titans. The game will tip-off at 2 p.m.
