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Wright State Women Prepare For Findlay on Tuesday

November 25, 2024

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resize (3)4778427972858841958. — Photo courtesy of Wright State Athletics/Jordan Wommack

For most of us music buffs, we remember a song called “Tuesday” by iLoveMakonnen featuring Drake. That’s because the Wright State Raiders women’s basketball team (2-4) will try to have the club going up on a Tuesday by taking the court for a pre-Thanksgiving feast on Tuesday, November 24 against the Findlay Oilers at 7pm at the Nutter Center as part of 2000’s Night.

Last time out: Kari Hoffman’s crew are coming off a 68-57 win on Sunday night at home against the Ohio Bobcats out of the Mid-American Conference. One crazy fact about this game is that while the Raiders were up by 13 with 35 seconds left in the third quarter, none of their players were scored in double-figures. But that was until redshirt freshman Rylee Sagester hit a three to make it 59-43 with seven seconds in that same period, giving her 11 off the bench. Claire Henson led WSU with 12 points, while Amaya Staton finished with their third straight double-double: 11 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks.

About the opponent: The Findlay Oilers are an NCAA Division II team that plays in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Last season, they finished 14-15 overall (10-10 in conference play) and tied for 8th in the conference. Their season ended after losing to eventual undisputed conference champion Ashland in the quarterfinals of the G-MAC Tournament. Right now, they are off to hot start with a 5-2 record and a current four-game winning streak. The Oilers return everybody from last year’s team except for Lauren Hapgood who graduated. Their four starters that returned are Kate Ellis (14.3 ppg, 5.2 apg, 0.9 spg, 80% FT), Alyssa Ziehler (12.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 53.8% FG), Janae Hoying (7.8 ppg, 2.7 apg, 1.04 spg, 36.2% 3-PT, 82.1% FT), and Mckenna Stephens (3.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg). Notable returners from last year’s team include MacKenzie Schulz (6.2 ppg, 85.9% FT), Taylor Stanley (5.2 ppg), Chloe Callahan (5.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg) – who was a part-time starter, Addisyn Freeman (4.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg), and Ella Mescher (2.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg).

Opponent’s head coach profile: Michele Durand is in her second season with the Oilers. Before then, she spent 19 seasons as the woman in charge at Ohio Northern University, where she left as the winningest coach in program history (333). She was a 4-time Ohio Athletic Conference Coach of the Year (2007, 2013, 2015, 2017), a 3-time Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year, (2008, 2013, 2017), and the 2013 NCAA Division III Coach of the Year. Under Durand’s tutelage, the Polar Bears were 5-time OAC Regular Season Champions (2013, 2015, 2016-18) and 2-time OAC Tournament championships (2013, 2017). The Polar Bears, led by Durand, also made four NCAA Division III National Tournaments (2013-14, 2016-17). Their best season came in the 2016-17 campaign, where they finished with a 30-1 record and a trip to the NCAA Division III Elite Eight. Durand begun her head coaching career at Bluffton University and spent 11 seasons over there (1990-01) and was the 1991 Western Buckeye Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year. When Durand left Bluffton in 2001, she was the winningest coach in program history as well (121).

Wright State women’s starting lineup – individual stats per game
• Amaya Staton, F (6-1, Gr., Merrimack transfer) – 11.2 ppg, 9 rpg, 1.2 bpg, 58.8% FG (22/38), 79.3% FT (23/29)
• Claire Henson, G (5-10, Jr.) – 13.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, spg, 42.1% 3-PT
• Makiya Miller, G (5-7, Jr.) – 9.8 ppg
• Macie Taylor, G (5-7, R-Soph.) – 9.2 ppg, 1.5 spg, 72.7% FT (8/11)
• Olivia Brown, G (5-7, R-Soph., Akron transfer) – 3.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.2 spg; What can Brown do for you? Well, she has started the last five games since Scott’s injury and has also become her team’s leader in assists (16).

Wright State women’s rotation players; per game averages
• Lauren Scott, G (5-7, Jr.); Scott made her return on Sunday and scored five points while shooting a poor 2-for-8 from the field, but just having her back was still a confidence booster for her team.
• Chloe Chard Peloquin, C (6-3, Jr., Canisius transfer) – 4.8 ppg, 5 rpg
• Rylee Sagester, G (5-7, R-Fr.) –5.8 ppg, 37.5% 3-PT (9/24)
• Ellie Magestro-Kennedy, G (5-7, R-Fr.) – 5.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg; did not play on Sunday due to an illness
• Abbie Riddle, G (5-10, R-Fr., Bowling Green transfer) – 2.5 ppg; Riddle has played in WSU’s last two games since being activated following a knee injury.
• Florrie Cotterill, F (6-2, Fr.) – played in five of six games, 0.6 ppg, 0.6 rpg

Rest of the Wright State women’s roster: https://wsuraiders.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster

Findlay starting lineup – stats through first 7 games
• Alyssa Ziehler, F (6-0, Jr.)– 8.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.1 bpg, 0.9 spg, 81.8% FT (18/22);
• Kate Ellis, G (5-11, Gr.)– 12.7 ppg, 4 rpg, 1.8 spg, 78.8% FT (26/33); only Oiler averaging double-figure scoring
• Allie Stockton, G (5-7, Soph.) – 6.9 ppg, 5 rpg, 80% FT (12/15); started the last three games, did not play at all last season
• Taylor Stanley, G (5-7, Soph.) – 14 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.5 spg, 86.7% FT (13/15)
• Janae Hoying, G (5-7, Sr.) – 9.6 ppg, 1.3 spg, 91.3% FT (21/23)

Findlay key reserves
• MacKenzie Schulz, F (5-11, Soph.) – 5.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 36.4% 3-PT; started the team’s first three games of the season
• Chloe Callahan, G (5-10, Sr.) – 4.6 ppg, 1.9 rpg
• Addisyn Freeman, G (5-8, Soph.) – 4.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg
• Ella Mescher, F (6-0, Jr.) – 4.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 0.9 bpg
• Ariyah Douglas (5-8, Sr.) – played in six of seven games with one start, 2.2 ppg; Douglas did not play last season after transferring from Illinois-Springfield. She started her NCAA career at Anderson Broadus.
• Mckenna Stephens, G (5-9, Sr.) – played in six of seven games, 2.5 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 11.2 mpg; Stephens went from being a starter in 18.6 minutes a night last season (begun 18 of 26 games played) to a bench role and barely keeping her head above water just to crack the rotation.
• Sophie Huffman (5-6, Soph.); A walk-on who played in 11 of the team’s 28 games last year as a freshman, Huffman has played five out of seven so far as a sophomore.