Wright State women’s basketball kicked off 2016 right where they left off at the end of 2015, with a win in conference play.
The Raiders defeated the Valparaiso Crusaders 80-63 extending their winning streak to two and improving their Horizon League Conference record to 2-0.
Senior guard Kim Demmings hit an early three pointer ten seconds into the game to give the Raiders an early lead. There wasn’t much more offense in the first as the Raiders trailed the Crusader’s 11-10 at the end of the quarter.
Demmings went down with an apparent ankle injury with 8:15 left in the half. When asked how the ankle was she said it was sore.
She returned to the game with about 2:20 remaining in the half and made a quick bucket out of a timeout, but checked out one minute later and entered the locker room.
Freshman guard Mackenzie Taylor connected on a three pointer as time expired capping off a 12-2 run to give the Raiders a 40-29 lead at halftime. Junior forward Antania Hayes led the team in scoring and rebounding in the first half with eleven points and five boards.
As the second half began, WSU took the floor without Demmings who seemed to be nursing the sore ankle with ice on the bench.
“Clearly she’s had these problems since the Georgia game,” head coach Mike Bradbury said in regards to Demming’s injury. “I would tell you nothing is wrong with her but obviously there is, not sure how to fix it”
Freshman guard Emily Vogelpohl opened the half with a three point bucket to push the Raider lead to 14.
Vogelpohl hit a free throw with 5:51 left in the third quarter to complete the three point play, pushing the Raider lead to 20.
The Crusaders went on a 12-0 run including a three pointer from junior guard Annemarie Hamlet, cutting the deficit to eight. The run was ended with a jumper by Hayes.
Demmings took the court with 0:30 remaining helping the team closeout the third quarter with a 57-51 lead.
Freshman guard Symone Simmons had a crucial block with 5:00 remaining in the game leading to a turnover and a foul, the Raider lead was at eight.
Sophomore forward Lexi Smith battled for a layup and connected on a free throw, completing the three point play to increase the lead to 11.
Smith steeped up 18 points and 9 rebounds for the Raiders, only Vogelpohl scored more with 20.
“It was big, we just talked about it, we’ve got good players,” said Bradbury. “People have got to step up, the other night it was JJ Williams tonight it was Lexi.”
Sophomore forward Lexi Franklin led the Crusaders with 21 points and 6 rebounds.
The Raiders (12-3; 2-0) take on Northern Kentucky (8-4; 0-1) on Jan. 9 at the Nutter Center, tip-off is at 2 p.m.
