The Wright State Raiders men’s and women’s basketball teams will both try to get back on the winning edge in rematches as part of a Saturday afternoon doubleheader at the Nutter Center. First up at 1ET, Clint Sargent and the men’s team will host the Detroit Mercy Titans on Military Appreciation Day. Then at 4ET/3CT, Kari Hoffman and the women’s team will host the Milwaukee Panthers.
Home is NOT always where the fun is
This past Wednesday night in the men’s game, it was Beach Night. However, Sargent and his Raiders (10-11, 4-6 Horizon) were stranded on a beach of their own after suffering a tough 95-79 defeat at the hands of Milwaukee, the squad who was picked to win the Horizon League this season. Alex Huibregtse led WSU with 21 points and was 4-of-6 from downtown. Brandon Noel had 17 points of his own, with 14 points off the bench from Jack Doumbia and 10 points from Keaton Norris.
Wright State shot 50 percent from the field (28-of-56) and 42.9 percent from three-point land (9-of-21), but they only made 63.6 percent of free throws (14-of-22). However, they won the battle of on-court points by a wild 53-4 margin.
Bart Lundy and his Panthers (14-7, 7-3 Horizon), who moved into a second place tie in the Horizon League standings with Purdue Fort Wayne with the win, had six players score in double-figures: 18 points each from Kentrell Pullian and Themus Fulks, 15 points off the bench from Erik Pratt, 11 points and four steals from AJ McKee, and 10 points each from Faizon Fields and Jamichael Stillwell. Danilo Jovanovich had nine points and seven rebounds off the bench, Fulks was an assist shy of a double-double to go along with three steals, and Pratt was 4-of-6 from behind the three-point line.
The Milwaukee men shot 49.2 percent from the field (31-of-63), 45.8 percent on threes (11-of-24) and 81.5 percent on foul shots (12-of-15). They also had nine turnovers, had their bench outscore the WSU bench 28-25, outrebounded Wright State 36-30, and had 21 points off 13 Raider turnovers.
The following night in the women’s game, 80’s Night wasn’t too kind to Hoffman and her ladies as Green Bay came to town and beat them 75-63. It was the ninth straight win for the Phoenix and the 12th straight time that they have beaten the green and gold.
The Wright State women (4-16, 2-8 Horizon) made only 41.5 percent of their shots (22-of-53) and 64.3 of their attempts at the charity stripe (9-of-14), but they were surprisingly good from downtown with a three-point percentage of 52.9 percent (9-of-17) and committed only nine turnovers. Claire Henson led WSU 12 points, while Makiya Miller finished with 10 points, followed by nine points off the bench from Macie Taylor, and seven points each from Amaya Staton and Lauren Scott.
Green Bay shot just 46.7 percent from the field (28-of-60) and 30.8 percent on 3-pointers (4-of-13), but they shot a very good 88.2 percent on free throws (15-of-17). They also outrebound WSU 41-27, committed only eight turnovers, and led by as many as 24 in the fourth quarter.
Jasmine Kondrakiewicz stole the show with a career-high of 31 points and on 12-of-17 shot attempts from the field, with 11 of her points coming in the second quarter. Natalie McNeal recorded her second double-double of the season and ninth of her five-year NCAA career (seventh with Green Bay) as she ended the night with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists. Callie Genke and Jenna Guyer also had nine points apiece.
Men’s game vs. Detroit Mercy: The first matchup of the season between the Raiders and Titans was a close one on January 4 as WSU was up by double-digits for a good portion of the day ended up on top 80-72 at Calihan Hall. Noel led everyone with 26 points on 11-of-13 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, followed by 21 points and 13 rebounds from Doumbia, and 17 points from Huibregtse.
The Titans (6-15, 2-8 Horizon) are 10th in the Horizon League and go into Saturday on a five-game losing streak.
Head coach Mark Montgomery is in his first season with UDM and was the man in charge at Northern Illinois for 10 seasons (2011-21). At one point, he was an assistant coach for Tom Izzo for 12 seasons (2002-11 and 2021-24) where they made the NCAA Tournament every single year that Montgomery was over there, including the 2009 National Championship game where they lost to North Carolina.
Wright State men’s starting lineup (from their last two games)
• Brandon Noel, F (6-8/240, 5th-year R-Jr.) – 18.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg, spg, bpg, 35.7% 3-PT, 80% FT; leads the Horizon League in two-point field goals made (121) and total field goals made (146)
• Andrea Holden, W (6-6/215, Fr.) – 6.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, spg, 16.3 mpg in six games (two starts)
• Alex Huibregtse, G (6-3/205, R-Sr.) – 15.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.1 apg, 41.3% 3-PT, 80% FT; leads the Horizon League in made three-pointers (59) and effective field goal percentage (61%)
• Logan Woods (6-5/185, R-Soph.) – 7.5 ppg, 44.3% 3-PT
• Keaton Norris, G (6-0/175, R-Jr.) – 7.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 4.7 apg, 1.3 spg, played and started 18 games; tied for 34th in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.80)
Wright State men’s rotation players
• Jack Doumbia 🇺🇸 🇫🇷, F (6-6/195, R-Sr., transfer from Norfolk State) – 13 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.2 spg, 0.8 bpg; started nine games
• Michael Imariagbe 🇳🇬, F (6-7/220, Sr., Houston Christian transfer) – 5.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg in 20 games (11 starts)
• Solomon Callaghan, G (6-2/195, R-Fr.) – 5.2 ppg, 33.3% 3-PT in 20 games (two starts)
• Andrew Welage, G (6-6/205, Gr.) – 3.5 ppg, 32.7% 3-PT, 12.5 mpg
• Drey Carter, F (6-8/210, R-Soph.) – 2.7 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 9.6 mpg in 18 games (one start); did not play on Wednesday against Milwaukee (coach’s decision)
Rest of the Wright State men’s roster: https://wsuraiders.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
Detroit Mercy starting lineup (from their last game)
• Ryan Kalambay 🇨🇦, F (6-9/240, Fr.) – 2.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.5 spg, 0.6 bpg, started five games
• Legend Geeter, F (6-8/230, R-Jr., Eastern Michigan transfer) – 7.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.9 spg in 20 games (10 starts); redshirted his freshman season at Providence
• Emmanuel Kuac 🇨🇦, G/F (6-7/210, Gr.) – 7.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 82.8% FT in 18 games (15 starts); played his first four seasons at New Mexico
• TJ Nadeau, G (6-5/195, Fr.) – 7.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, started six games
• Orlando Lovejoy, G (6-3/190, Jr., Eastern Michigan transfer) – 15.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 4.1 apg, 1.8 spg, played and started 19 games
Detroit Mercy rotation players
• Nate Johnson, G (6-5/190, Fr., Akron transfer) – 7.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 35.3% 3-PT; started 20 games
• Grant Gondrezick II, G (6-0/180, R-Fr.) – 8.6 ppg, 42% 3-PT in 20 games (nine starts)
• Miles Mitchell, F (6-10/210, R-Fr.) – 2.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 14.9 mpg in 18 games (four starts)
• Chris Kuiper, G/F (6-6/190, Fr.) – 0.3 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 6.4 mpg in 13 games
Detroit Mercy injuries
• Mak Manciel, G (6-4/200, Sr.) – 13.4 ppg, 38.1% 3-PT, 73.1% FT, played and started five games; suffered a season-ending ankle injury at Ball State on November 20
• Jared Lary, G (6-6/190, Jr., NAIA Aquinas College transfer) – 9.1 ppg, 4 rpg, 1.2 spg, 40% 3-PT in nine games (six starts); tore his ACL on November 30 against Eastern Michigan
• Stephen Okoro 🇳🇬, F (6-9/230, Fr.) – 1.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg in 14 games (six starts); missed the last six games with back issues
Rest of Detroit Mercy’s roster: https://detroittitans.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
Women’s game vs. Milwaukee: On January 2 at the Klotsche Center, the Milwaukee women annihilated Wright State 75-50 in their first meeting of the season as former Raider Kacee Baumhower torched her old squad with 18 points and was 3-of-4 from downtown. That contest was known for an insane second quarter in which the Panthers put the clamps on the Raiders by holding them scoreless for almost that entire period.
Since their last meeting, the Milwaukee women (4-17, 1-9 Horizon) have went back down to last place in the conference and are currently on a five-game losing streak. Head coach Kyle Rechlicz, in season #13, has the third-most wins as a head coach in program history (184) and was recently featured in this week’s edition of HoriZone PC.
Wright State women’s starting lineup (from their last game)
• Amaya Staton, F (6-1, Gr., Merrimack transfer) – 10.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.7 bpg (leads Horizon), 52.1% FG, 77% FT, 20.8 mpg; leads the Horizon League in total blocked shots (33) and personal fouls (64)
• Claire Henson, G (5-10, Jr.) – 10.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.2 spg, 36.6% 3-PT
• Abbie Riddle, G (5-10, R-Fr., Bowling Green transfer) – 3.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 18.2 mpg in 13 games (one start)
• Makiya Miller 🇺🇸 🇯🇵, G (5-7, Jr.) – 8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.2 spg, 33.3% 3-PT
• Olivia Brown, G (5-7, R-Soph. Akron transfer) – 3.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.3 spg; started nine games, including the last three
Wright State women’s rotation players
• Macie Taylor, G (5-7, R-Soph.) – 8.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.2 spg, 78.4% FT; started the first 17 games
• Lauren Scott, G (5-7, Jr.) – 7.9 ppg, 71.4% FT in 16 games (13 starts)
• Rylee Sagester, G (5-7, R-Fr.) – 5.9 ppg, 38% 3-PT, 88.9% FT (16-of-18), 16.6 mpg
• Chloe Chard Peloquin, C (6-3, Jr., Canisius transfer) – 4.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 0.6 bpg in 17 games
• Ellie Magestro-Kennedy, G (5-7, R-Fr.) – 4.9 ppg, 2 rpg, 11.9 mpg in 19 games
• Florrie Cotterill 🏴, F (6-2, Fr.) – 1.4 ppg, 0.6 rpg, 4.9 mpg in 14 games
Rest of the Wright State women’s roster: https://wsuraiders.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster
Milwaukee starting lineup (from their last four games)
• Anna Lutz, F (6-1, R-Jr.) – 11.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.1 bpg
• Payton Rechlicz, G/F (5-11, R-Fr.) – 4.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, started 15 games; the head coach’s daughter
• Kacee Baumhower, G (5-9, Sr.) – 12.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 0.9 spg, 33.6% 3-PT, 80.3% FT; started her NCAA career at St. Bonaventure
• Jada Donaldson, G (5-7, Sr.) – 6.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 42.4% 3-PT
• Kamy Peppler, G (5-7, Jr.) – 8.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 5.3 apg (leads Horizon), 1.4 spg
Milwaukee rotation players
• Jorey Buwalda, F (6-0, Soph.) – 7.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg in 19 games (five starts)
• Izzy Pugh 🇳🇿, F (6-3, R-Fr.) – 4.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg, started one game
• Jada Williams, G (5-10, R-Soph.) – 2 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 14.9 mpg
• Kallie Peppler, G (6-0, Fr.) – 2.4 ppg, 12.2 mpg; Kamy Peppler’s younger sister
• Hallie Majoros (muh-JOR-ohs), G (5-9, R-Soph.) – 1.4 ppg, 3.7 mpg in 13 games
Rest of Milwaukee’s roster: https://mkepanthers.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster
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