The beginning of the basketball season is a glorious time. Everyone wakes up from their hibernation that started in May (and that will be my only Rothstein reference) and we get to see a brand new campaign start. For mid-majors like Wright State, the start of the season means taking the meal ticket from a power conference opponent and getting tested immediately. While the men would travel down to Lexington to face (and get destroyed by) Kentucky, the women take a trip to Wisconsin, where Hoffman and quite a few Raiders like Lexi Bugajski and Ellie Magestro-Kennedy call home.
On Tuesday, the Raiders took a trip up to Wisconsin to face the Badgers. For Coach Hoffman, this is their first time in the Kohl Center since going to the state championships in high school. Wisconsin ended last season 15-17, going 6-12 in the Big Ten conference and racking up a quarterfinal appearance in the WNIT.
Wisconsin started testing the Raiders immediately, forcing them to the outside to make three pointers. After Wisconsin took a double digit lead early, the Raiders then found some life through Claire Henson and Makiya Miller, who used a streaking offense to get back within one. A Wisconsin 12-2 run to go into halftime shot the chances of the Raiders clawing back as the squad would get no closer for the rest of the night following a monster third quarter from the Badgers. The Badgers would end the victor of their home opener, 95-68.
Makiya Miller ended up being the difference maker in the match, coming back for the first time since their injury in January and putting up 22 PTs and 6 REBs. The team was defending well, especially at the rim where the rebounds were in control until the end of the contest. Against a power conference opponent, the score betrays the effort put on by the Raiders. They kept turnovers relatively low and managed to find ways to break through one of the Big Ten’s best forwards in Serah Williams and score. All in all, the game went well and positives were present in the loss to Wisconsin.
“I thought we defended really, really well. The keys to our game plan were executed and I think the players felt that level of success,” Hoffman recalled joyfully.
On an unnaturally humid Sunday, the Raiders traveled west again to go against the Evansville Purple Aces, a team who struggled last season in MVC competition and in a similar rebuilding phase as the Raiders following a 4-28 campaign. Evansville took a decisive 101-76 loss to fellow Horizon League team IU Indy to start the 2024-2025 season. For the Raiders, this represented one of the best opportunities to get into the win column.
Wright State was not able to find a way to win in Evansville. After taking an early lead in the first quarter, Evansville used a plethora of fouls to reach the line and convert on their free throws. The Aces were 12-14 from the charity stripe through one half while the Raiders were 4-9, ending the half with a score of 36-29. The Raiders did not come alive until the final 5 minutes of the match, clawing back from a 10 point deficit to get within one of the Aces. However, Miller bounced off both free throws in the final seconds to finish the afternoon 1-5 from the stripe, and a last second Henson layup was chaotically collected on the rebound and batted away, giving the Raiders their second loss 65-63.
“It was a poor basketball game in general, it was really messy for both sides,” Hoffman recalled in a phone interview. “Really a hard game to manage… it was just frustrating.”
Returning home following the messy match at Evansville, the Raiders welcomed in another MVC opponent in Indiana State. Similarly to the Aces, the Sycamores came in to the Nutter Center with a winless record after losing a pair of matches to Western Kentucky and #8 Iowa State.
The Raiders third try for a win did not fair any better however. Wright State went down early, failing to convert shots in the first quarter besides a pair of threes. The second quarter did not provide much relief as the squad took a 30-15 deficit at halftime. While not an impossible lead to swallow – Evansville got about as much separation before the Raiders stormed back – it would prove to be too much for the Raiders in the end. Despite a near perfect five minute rally to start the third quarter, the Raiders would get no closer than 7 as Indiana State slowly carved through the Raiders in the paint as the scoring troubles continued. Indiana State would end the victor 68-51, one of Hoffman’s lowest scoring matches in her career.
So what are we learning about the Raiders so far?
Defense can be strong but scattered – On the defensive side of the ball, the Raiders have been fairly consistent for an undersized squad. Holding Evansville to 36% shooting overall, along with going 0-8 from the arc for a while, is a good success marker when you look at just the stats. Holding the paint as well as they did as an undersized squad against Wisconsin also shows promise. In truth, the defense can be spotty at times. In the post, the Raiders struggle to maintain a consistent presence to pull down rebounds or can sometimes just fully lapse in coverage and give up easy layups. Against Indiana State, it was like watching a tale of two defenses – a squad that was able to interrupt possessions and get the ball away, notching 11 steals total on the night, but couldn’t find a way to lock down on the layups or offensive rebounds.
“I don’t think we played hard enough to win (against Indiana State) and we need to learn what that effort looks like,” Hoffman sighed.
Scoring troubles – Out of the three matches, Wright State is 16-70 (23%) from the arc and 36-59 (61%) from the charity stripe. The struggles at the three point line have been uncharacteristic of a Hoffman squad – all previous iterations of the Raiders made ample use of the three point shot with success, putting the Raiders high up in the 3PT national rankings more than once in Hoffman’s tenure. But this would not be the end-all-be-all to the Raiders offense to begin with, there’s more present in Hoffman’s most recent iteration that allows for more plays that dig into the opposing defenses. There have been flashes of it with Miller’s performance at Wisconsin and Henson’s comeback at Evansville, and having Staton and Chard Peloquin underneath has brought in consistent scoring opportunities at the rim. The issue with all three of these elements of the offense is conversion – shots are simply not falling.
Moving away from converting shots though, one specific moment stuck out to me during the match against Indiana State. Towards the end of the match, Wright State entered a full court press and the ball landed right into the hands of Lexi Bugajski on the inbound. Bugajski is a forward that shoots the three well – hence why she’s in the Wright State system now – but she hesitates, passes it off back into traffic, then the return pass is thrown high and back into the hands of the Sycamores. The low shooting percentage may be converting into doubt through plays like these, which will be something Hoffman will have to nip in the bud quickly.
Whoops! – Just like in the clip above, turnovers have been the bane of the Raiders existence so far this season. The Raiders have had their passes or dribbling cut off by their opponents so far, specifically on plays into the post, but more so it has been the travelling calls, where the Raiders have earned at least 3 per game to turn the ball over. Tightening up on attempts into through traffic and learning as you go with the young squad will right this ship. On the plus side, the Raiders have forced as many turnovers as they’ve given up.
Living and learning – The squad of Raiders is a young one by design. In interviews leading up to the season, Hoffman said that she would like to see a consistent roster for a couple years going forward, and that starts with building a squad that wants to stay and develop under her system. That also means that the Raider faithful are going to have to get used to a squad that is learning as it goes. None of the current squad were “The One” to lead at any point in time in their collegiate careers, they have all been role-players so far. As Wright State looks to find its groove and chemistry with each other on the floor, there may be more bumpy games like the last couple in the future.
“There’s a lot to learn from these early games with such a young team,” Hoffman mused. “We have the pieces we need to make this look better, look like basketball, make some shots and defend, and we’ll get them there.”
Wright State finishes up their homestead with a match against Tennessee State on Friday, November 15th at 11am, a good old Education Day matchup that will see the stadium flush with kids from around the area.
