For the second time this season, the Wright State men’s and women’s basketball teams will play against Horizon League opponents from the Hoosier State of Indiana on the exact same night, which will happen on Wednesday, February 5.
The men will visit the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum to battle the Purdue-Fort Wayne Mastodons (16-8, 9-4 Horizon) – who are in second place in the conference, while the women will host the IU Indy Jaguars (5-17, 4-9 Horizon) at the Nutter Center in a battle to break the ninth-place tie in their standings. Both games will start at 7ET/6CT, and they can each be streamed live on ESPN Plus.
Last times out: This past weekend, it was another case of home cooking at the Nutter Center for Clint Sargent’s and Kari Hoffman’s crews. On Saturday, the Raider women (6-17, 4-9 Horizon) never trailed in their 75-67 win over the Northern Kentucky Norse as part of their annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day game. Amaya Staton led WSU with her seventh double-double of the season as she tallied up 16 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks.
Ironically, Staton already had a double-double before halftime by scoring a dozen points and pulling down 10 boards also while blocking a shot. In addition, Lauren Scott scored 12 points (5-of11 FG); while Makiya Miller scored 11 points (9-of-10 FT) along with a pair of steals and a block of her own. The Raider bench scored 30 of the team’s 75 points: 13 for Macie Taylor, nine for Rylee Sagester, and eight for Chloe Chard Peloquin (all in the first quarter).
The very next day, it was comeback city for the men’s team (12-12, 6-7 Horizon) as they trailed by 10 midway through the second half before going on a 9-0 run and picking up the 66-64 win over the Robert Morris Colonials, who’s six-game winning streak both started and ended with WSU.
Brandon Noel was the only Raider in double-figure scoring with 17 points, while Solomon Callaghan and Andrew Welage each scored eight points off the bench. Welage, who didn’t play a single minute in Thursday night’s loss at Youngstown State, hit the game-winning bucket with 11.6 left to play in regulation for the green and gold who stand in seventh place in the conference.
Last matchups with the upcoming opponents: On January 15, it marked the third time in the 2024-25 season that both the WSU basketball teams lost games on the exact same day.
In Indianapolis, IU Indy knocked off the WSU women 75-63 at The Jungle. Hoffman only had two of her Raiders score in double-figures that night: 18 from Miller (8-of-15 FG) – who also had a career-high of four steals, and 13 from Scott (5-of-12 FG).
Kate Bruce’s Jaguars had three player score in double-figures: 17 points each from Shania Nichols-Vannett and Katie Davidson, followed by 14 points from Nevaeh Foster. Jada Patton also had a solid statline with nine points and five assists off the bench.
Note: IU Indy’s win over Wright State was their last one before going on a current four-game losing streak.
In Dayton, the WSU men was on the wrong end of a 120-113 loss against Purdue-Fort Wayne in a contest that went to double overtime with video game-like numbers to show for it.
Alex Huibregtse – who missed the January 12 loss at Robert Morris with a back injury – returned to the lineup with a game-high of 31 points, shot 7-of-14 from beyond the arc, became the 39th member of Wright State’s 1,000-Point Club after scoring his 11th point of the evening at the nine-minute mark of the first half.
Jack Doumbia finished with a double-double off the bench with 23 points (all in the second half) and 13 rebounds. Noel finished with 23 points (11-of-17 FG) and nine rebounds, Logan Woods scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half (6-of-10 FG), and Welage scored 11 points off the bench while shooting 3-of-5 from downtown. Keaton Norris finished with three points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Huibregtse and Noel both played 47 of the 50 minutes, while Doumbia and Norris turned the ball over five times each.
Jalen Jackson, who came into the game the Horizon League’s leading scorer and will head into Wednesday’s rematch in that same predicament, led Jon Coffman’s Mastodons with 30 points while making 10-of-20 shots from the field to go along with seven rebounds and three steals. Rasheed Bello played 49 of 50 minutes, dropping 27 points and hitting 5-of-6 shots from beyond the arc to go along with eight assists and a pair of steals.
Chandler Cuthrell had his first start of the season and had the best game of his entire college career, finishing with 20 points and 16 rebounds while going 7-of-10 from the field and nailing all six of his free throw attempts. Quinton Morton-Robertson scored 16 points on 4-of-10 three-point tries, Corey Hadnot II contributed with 17 points in 38 minutes off the bench, and Trey Lewis had eight points off the bench in 17 minutes of action.
Wright State men’s starting lineup (from their last five games)
• Brandon Noel, F (6-8/240, 5th-year R-Jr.) – 18.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg (T-4th Horizon), spg, 0.9 bpg, 35.8% 3-PT, 80.6% FT
• Andrea Holden, W (6-6/215, Fr.) – 5.3 ppg, 5 rpg, 1.2 spg, 14.4 mpg in nine games (five starts)
• Alex Huibregtse, G (6-3/205, R-Sr.) – 14.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3 apg, 39.4% 3-PT (2nd in Horizon), 77.5% FT, played and started 23 games
• Logan Woods (6-5/185, R-Soph.) – 7.4 ppg, 45.6% 3-PT
• Keaton Norris, G (6-0/175, R-Jr.) – 7.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 4.6 apg, 1.4 spg, played and started 21 games
Wright State men’s rotation players
• Jack Doumbia, F (6-6/195, R-Sr., Norfolk State transfer) – 12.6 ppg, 6 rpg, 1.2 spg, 0.8 bpg; started nine games
• Michael Imariagbe, F (6-7/220, Sr., Houston Christian transfer) – 5.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg in 23 games (11 starts)
• Solomon Callaghan, G (6-2/195, R-Fr.) – 5.1 ppg, 34% 3-PT in 23 games (two starts)
• Andrew Welage, G (6-6/205, Gr.) – 3.7 ppg, 34.4% 3-PT, 12.5 mpg in 22 games; did not play on Thursday (coach’s decision)
• Drey Carter, F (6-8/210, R-Soph.) – 2.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 9.5 mpg in 20 games (one start); did not play on Sunday (coach’s decision)
Rest of the Wright State men’s roster: https://wsuraiders.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
Purdue Fort-Wayne starting lineup
• Eric Mulder, F (6-8/225, Jr.) – 9.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 0.9 stl, 0.6 in 16 games (15 starts)
• Maximus Nelson, F (6-8/215, Jr.) – 7.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 40.7% 3-PT
• Jalen Jackson, G (6-2/200, Jr.) – 20.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.9 spg; played his freshman season at Illinois-Chicago
• Rasheed Bello, G (6-0/185, Sr.) – 14.7 ppg, 4.2 apg, 1.8 spg, 43.8% 3-PT, 88.7% FT; started out at Division II Wisconsin-Parkside where he was the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s 2021-22 Freshman of the Year and the 2022-23 GLIAC Player of the Year as a sophomore
• Quinton Morton-Robertson, G (5-8/155, Gr.) – 8.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.6 spg, 36.5% 3-PT, 84% FT; played and started in 23 games; played his first two NCAA seasons at Radford
Purdue-Fort Wayne rotation players
• Corey Hadnot II, G (6-3/175, Soph.) – 10.1 ppg, 43.4% 3-PT, 79.1% FT; started one game
• Chandler Cuthrell, F (6-8/220, Sr., Texas-San Antonio transfer) – 8 ppg, 5.7 rpg
• Trey Lewis, G/F (6-6, 200, R-Soph., Loyola-Chicago transfer) – 4.6 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 42.3% 3-PT, 9.9 mpg
• Deangelo Elisee, C (6-9/260, R-Sr.) – 2.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 0.6 bpg, 10.2 mpg; started eight games while Mulder was out with an injury
• Chris Morgan, G (6-2/190, R-Soph.) – 1.8 ppg, 0.8 apg, 7.1 mpg in 17 games
Rest of Purdue-Fort Wayne’s roster: https://gomastodons.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
WSU-PFW series history: The Wright State men leads the all-time series 12-7.
Men’s game notes
• Noel (58.5%) and Huibregtse (58.3%) have the Horizon League’s top two effective field goal percentages
• Norris ranks 40th in the NCAA with a 2.67 assist-to-turnover.
• WSU ranks tied for 20th in the NCAA with Xavier and UNC-Greensboro in team three-point percentage (38.3%), while Purdue-Fort Wayne is tied for 15th with UC-Santa Barbara and Iowa in that same category (38.6%)
• Purdue-Fort Wayne is tied with UMass Lowell for the NCAA’s 22nd-worst rebounds per game average (31.6), but they also have the second-fewest turnovers per game average (9.0)
• Jackson (20.1 ppg) and Noel (18.3 ppg) are the Horizon League’s top two scorers, but Jackson is in a four-way tie for 12th in the NCAA in scoring
Wright State women’s starting lineup (from their last three games)
• Amaya Staton, F (6-1, Gr., Merrimack transfer) – 10.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg (leads Horizon), 52.9% FG, 77.6% FT, 20.8 mpg; leads the Horizon League in total rebounds (173), and personal fouls (73)
• Claire Henson, G (5-10, Jr.) – 10.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.3 spg, 37% 3-PT
• Makiya Miller, G (5-7, Jr.) – 8.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.3 spg, 31% 3-PT
• Lauren Scott, G (5-7, Jr.) – 7.9 ppg, 32.9%3-PT, 71.4% FT in 19 games (16 starts)
• Olivia Brown, G (5-7, R-Soph. Akron transfer) – 3.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.2 spg; started 12 games, including the last six
Wright State women’s rotation players
• Macie Taylor, G (5-7, R-Soph.) – 8.3 ppg, 1.1 spg, 82% FT; started the first 17 games
• Abbie Riddle, G (5-10, R-Fr., Bowling Green transfer) – 3.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 17.9 mpg in 15 games (one start); sat out Saturday’s game due to an injury
• Rylee Sagester, G (5-7, R-Fr.) – 5.8 ppg, 37.5% 3-PT, 90% FT (18-of-20), 15.7 mpg
• Chloe Chard Peloquin, C (6-3, Jr., Canisius transfer) – 4.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 0.6 bpg, 15.4 mpg in 20 games
• Ellie Magestro-Kennedy, G (5-7, R-Fr.) – 4.3 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 11 mpg in 22 games
• Florrie Cotterill, F (6-2, Fr.) – 1.3 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 4.7 mpg in 15 games; did not play on Saturday (coach’s decision)
Rest of the Wright State women’s roster: https://wsuraiders.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster
IU Indy starting lineup
• Faith Stinson, F (6-2, Jr.) – 8.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.3 bpg; played her freshman season at Akron
• Katie Davidson, G/F (5-10, Sr.) – 15.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 84.2% FT, 50% 3-PT (13-of-26), played and started 10 games (missed 12 due to injury); started her NCAA career at Miami University
• Nevaeh Foster, G (5-8, Soph., Western Kentucky transfer) – 9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 37.1% 3-PT
• Logan Lewis, G (5-7, Sr.) – 3.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg; started the first 21 games before coming off the bench last game
• Azyah Newson-Cole, G (5-7, R-Fr.) – 6 ppg, 2.8 rpg in 21 games (started the last 15); named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week on December 30
IU Indy rotation players
• Shania Nichols-Vannett, G (5-7, Soph., JUCO transfer) – 10.2 ppg, 36% 3-PT, 87% FT in 21 games (started the first seven); scored a career-high 37 points against Southern Illinois on November 16
• Jada Patton, F (5-11, Jr., NCAA Division II UIndy transfer) – 7.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.7 spg in 16 games (one start)
• Alexa Hocevar, F (6-1, Soph.) – 7.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.5 spg, started 10 games including the last one; older sister Athena redshirted at Youngstown State and transferred to play one season at Wright State
• Camron Blank, G (5-9, Sr.) – 1.9 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 11.3 mpg
IU Indy injuries
• Kendall Winger, G (5-10, Gr., Butler transfer) – 4.4 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 83.3% FT in seven games (two starts); has not played since November 27; played her freshman year at Eastern Kentucky
Rest of IU Indy’s roster: https://iuindyjags.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster
WSU-IUI series history: The Wright State women lead the all-time series 15-9.
Women’s game notes
• Staton (37 blocks, 1.7 bpg) and Stinson (33 blocks, 1.3 bpg) are the Horizon League’s top two shot-blockers
• WSU is tied with Western Kentucky and Alcorn State for the NCAA’s 28th-worst rebounding differential (-5.3)
• IU Indy is tied with UMass Lowell for the NCAA’s 22nd-fewest rebounds per game average (31.6)