Wright State women’s basketball team finished off the regular season with a 77-66 victory over the Youngstown State Penguins on Sunday, Mar. 6.
For senior guards Kim Demmings and Symone Denham this would be the last time they would play at the Nutter Center.
“It was wonderful,” Demmings said. “Thankful for all the fans that came out and supported us, the coaching staff, the administration, I think that was fabulous what they did for us.”
“I appreciate everything that everyone has done up until this point,” Demmings said.
“It was special, it was different,” Denham said. “It felt good to have all my family here, all my friends, old colleagues come back and watch my last game here. It was fun.”
“I’ve won a lot of games here and lost a lot less than that, but it’s a great feeling to go out there and stick to the plan and come out with a win,” Demmings said.
“I’ve said so many good things about these two,” Raiders head coach Mike Bradbury said. “The biggest compliment that I can give these two, they’re good players, okay that’s been well documented, they’re better people and they are great ambassadors for Wright State.”
The Raiders got out to a 6-0 lead which was started off by a two-point basket by junior forward Antania Hayes.
Junior center Richelle van der Keijl led the way for WSU in the first quarter scoring six points to give the Raiders a 16-9 lead.
Wright State jumped out to a 26-15 lead in the second quarter, but the Penguins went on a 6-0 run capped off by a jumper from sophomore guard Indiya Benjamin for her fifth bucket of the game, cutting the deficit to 26-22.
With 1.8 seconds remaining in the first half, van der Keijl connected on a layup to increase the Raider lead to 34-28.
Symone Denham drives against Cleveland State.
Demmings, Denham and freshman guard Mackenzie Taylor each contributed six points in the third quarter as the Wright State lead grew to 14; at the end of the third quarter the score was WSU 60 – YSU 46.
The Penguins outscored the Raiders 20-17 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough as WSU cruised to an 11 point victory. Sophomore forward Lexi Smith led Wright State in scoring with 15 points while Benjamin led the YSU with 22 points.
Wright State will be back in action Thursday, Mar. 10 in Green Bay for the Horizon League Tournament as the three seed, they will take on the UIC Flames (12-17: Horizon 3-15). Tip-off is at 6 p.m.
