The Wright State women’s basketball team (2-14, 0-6 Horizon), who are at the very bottom of the Horizon League standings, will look to end a miserable 10-game losing streak as they host the Detroit Mercy Titans at Calihan Hall on Wednesday, January 7. It will start at 7:00ET and can be seen on ESPN Plus.
Last time out: WSU held their own in the early going during last Saturday’s road contest against the Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix, but the gameplan eventually fell apart and they ended up suffering the 69-51 defeat at the Kress Events Center. Wright State shot a poor 37.7 percent from the floor (20-of-53), 23.5 percent from 3-land (4-of-17) and 50 percent from the charity stripe (7-of-14). Kari Hoffman’s crew shot a solid 55.6 percent in the first quarter (5-of-9), but everything else went sideways afterwards.
Claire Henson was the only Raider in double-figure scoring with 19 points (nine in the third along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists, while Amaya Staton and Makiya Miller recorded 9 points each.
Wisconsin-Green Bay won their fourth straight contest and ended the afternoon shooting 43.1 percent from the field (25-of-58), 37.5 percent on 3-pointers (6-of-16), and 76.5 percent on foul shots (13-of-17). The Phoenix had three players in double-figure scoring: 14 points from Callie Genke, along with 13 points each from Natalie McNeal and Cassie Schiltz. Eight points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Jenna Guyer, eight points and nine rebounds for Jasmine Kondrakiewicz, and five points and eight assists for Bailey Butler. This past week, Schiltz was named the Horizon League Player of the Week.
Previous matchup: The last time that Wright State and Detroit Mercy faced off was on December 4 of last month. It was also the first time ever that former Long Island University teammates Claire Henson and Emaia O’Brien squared off against each other, with O’Brien and her Titans defeating Henson’s Raiders 67-56 at Calihan Hall. O’Brien, Aaliyah McQueen and Makayla Jackson all had 18 points each, but McQueen stole the show by dominating both sides of the ball while also grabbing seven rebounds and getting six steals.
Henson had 7 points and 9 rebounds in the game, but Amaya Staton led the green and gold charge with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Macie Taylor scored 13 points of her own. Also, Chloe Chard Peloquin came off the bench to score five points and block five shots – all of which came in the first half. Chard Peloquin, nicknamed “CCP”, became the first Raider – female or male – to block five shots in a game since men’s player Loudon Love did so in the 2018-19 campaign.
Note: Wright State’s current 10-game losing streak is tied for the fifth-longest in school history. It’s also the first time since the 2003-04 that the program has lost 10 or more games consecutively.
About the opponent and their coach: Detroit Mercy (10-3) had their four-game winning streak snapped after a tough 72-62 loss at home on Sunday against Cleveland State, with Mickayla Perdue torching the opposition at both ends of the floor with 26 points and six steals. They are currently tied with Wisconsin-Green Bay (11-5) and Oakland (6-8) for 3rd place in the Horizon League standings, with the Titans owning the tiebreaker because of each squad’s overall records. Detroit Mercy also ranks 36th in the country in free throws made per game (14.46) and free throws attempted per game (20.23).
So far, third-year head coach Kate Achter and her squad from the Motor City are making a good case for people to “Remember the Titans.” They are off to a 10-3 start for the first time since the 1979-80 season when they were still in AIAW and have not made an appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament since 1997. Achter’s 32 wins in her third season as the Titans’ head coach are three wins more than the program has had over the previous six seasons combined (29).
Series history: Wright State leads the all-time series 38-29.
Wright State women’s starting lineup
• Amaya Staton, F (6-1, Gr., Merrimack transfer) – 10.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg (2nd in Horizon), 1.4, 60.5% FG, 78.7% FT, 19.8 mpg, conference leader in total blocks (22) and blocks per game (1.4)
• Claire Henson, G (5-10, Jr.) – 10 ppg, 5.9 rpg (7th in Horizon), 2.4 apg, 1.2 spg, 33.3% 3-PT
• Makiya Miller, G (5-7, Jr.) – 7.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg
• Macie Taylor, G (5-7, R-Soph.) – 8.3 ppg, 1.3 spg, 74.2% FT, tied for 10th in the conference in total steals (21)
• Lauren Scott G (5-7, Jr.) – 7.4 ppg, 25.8 mpg in 12 games (10 starts)
Wright State women’s rotation players
• Olivia Brown, G (5-7, R-Soph., Akron transfer) – 2.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.8 apg (T-7th in Horizon), 1.3 spg, 6th in the conference in total assists (45); started six games
• Rylee Sagester, G (5-7, R-Fr.) – 6.1 ppg, 36.2% 3-PT
• Ellie Magestro-Kennedy, G (5-7, R-Fr.) – 5.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 31.3% 3-PT in 15 games
• Abbie Riddle, G (5-10, R-Fr., Bowling Green transfer) – 2.8 ppg, 2 rpg in nine games
• Florrie Cotterill, F (6-2, Fr.) – 1.5 ppg, 0.8 rpg in 12 games
Wright State injuries
• Chloe Chard Peloquin, C (6-3, Jr., Canisius transfer) – 5.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 0.8 bpg in 13 games; sat out the last three games with an Achilles injury
Detroit Mercy starting lineup
• Jasmine Edwards, F (6-0, Gr., NAIA Warner University transfer) – 3.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 0.2 bpg, 0.5 spg; started her college career at Jackson State; scored six points off the bench on Sunday
• Aaliyah McQueen, G (5-9, 5th-year, NAIA Madonna University) – 16.4 ppg (4th in Horizon), 7 rpg (5th in Horizon), 1.7 spg (T-5th in Horizon), 44.4% FG (T-4th in Horizon), 77.1% FT (7th in Horizon), tied for 8th in the conference in total steals (22); started her NCAA career at Illinois and then played at Oakland
• Makayla Jackson, G (5-8, Soph.) – 8.9 ppg, 1.9 spg (4th in Horizon), 72% FT, tied for 6th in the conference in total steals (25); recorded five points, six rebounds, and five steals on Sunday
• Myonna Hooper, G (5-5, Jr.) – 7.8 ppg, 2.3 apg, 0.6 spg in 12 games (11 starts)
• Emaia O’Brien, G (5-1, Gr.) – 14.5 ppg (6th in Horizon), 3.8 rpg, 1.9 apg, 2.1 spg (T-2nd in Horizon), 44.6% 3-PT (3rd in Horizon and 20th in NCAA), 84% FT (4th in Horizon), tied for 3rd in the conference in total steals (27)
Detroit Mercy rotation players
• Kailey Starks, G (5-7, Fr.) — 5.5. ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.5 spg; started two games
• Alize Tripp, G (5-6, Sr., NAIA Spring Arbor transfer) – 3.7 ppg, 36.4% 3-PT; started her career at NAIA Concordia in Ann Arbor, MI
• Katie Burton, G (5-9, Sr., Buffalo transfer) 3.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg in 6 games; played her first two seasons at St. John’s
• Anna Lassan, G/F (5-11, Fr.) – 2.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 10 mpg in 12 games
• Maddie Diabate 🇫🇷, F (5-9, Sr.) – 1.4 ppg, 2 rpg, 0.5 spg; started last Sunday’s game
• Chanteese Craig, F (6-2, Sr., Buffalo transfer) – 1.4 ppg, rpg in 10 games
Rest of Detroit Mercy’s roster:
https://detroittitans.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster
