Final scores
– Men’s game: Purdue-Fort Wayne 87, Wright State 64
– Women’s game: IU Indy 80, Wright State 68
The Wright State Raiders basketball teams both ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard on Wednesday night. The men’s team got blown out on the road 87-64 against the second-place Purdue-Fort Wayne Mastodons, while the women’s team lost at home 80-68 against the IU Indy Jaguars in a battle of two squads who were tied for ninth place. It’s the fourth time this season that both WSU squads have lost games on the exact same day.
In Fort Wayne, Clint Sargent’s crew (12-13, 6-8 Horizon) had only nine healthy players for the evening since three other guys were out due to illness: starting guard Logan Woods, and benchwarmers Ben Southerland and Braden Grant. The Raider men scored the first seven points of the night with back-to-back layups from Jack Doumbia and Brandon Noel, followed by a three from Keaton Norris. But the Mastodons (17-8, 10-4 Horizon) countered with a scoring run of their own by recording 14 of the next 16 points within a six-minute span to take the 14-9 lead and never trailed again, with Chandler Cuthrell scoring five unanswered and Jalen Jackson scoring six straight by himself.
Near the end of the first half, PFW scored 10 unanswered points to go up 38-22 with half of those points coming from the charity stripe. Wright State ended the half with six unanswered points by cutting the margin to 10 at on a putback bucket from Noel, a free throw from Doumbia, and a three-pointer from Andrew Welage to make it 38-28 going into halftime. The home team started the second half on an 8-0 run to go up 46-28 with half of those points coming from Eric Mulder. The Raiders cut down the lead no closer than 14 points on three different occasions within the last 12:45, but that was as close as the green and gold would get.
Noel recorded his seventh double-double of the season as he led all scorers with 25 points on 11-of-17 shots from the floor along with 10 rebounds (nine of those boards on the defensive glass). Doumbia, who was inserted back into the starting lineup over Andrea Holden, scored 15 points along with eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Norris had eight points, four rebounds and three assists; Solomon Callaghan scored seven points and got the start in place of Woods; and Welage scored six points off the bench while hitting a pair of threes.
In 32 minutes of action, Alex Huibregtse was held scoreless for the first time since November 12, 2021 at Marshall. His streak of 32 consecutive games with a made three-pointer came to an end, and it was his first time not hitting a triple since February 1, 2024 at home against Youngstown State.
The Wright State men connected on 42.1 percent on their overall shots (24-of-57), an abysmal 18.2 percent of their three-pointers (4-of-22), and 50 percent of their free throws (12-of-24). However, they outrebounded the opposition 36-33.
Rasheed Bello led the Mastodons with 22 points on 8-of-17 shots from the field, while Jackson – the Horizon League’s leading scorer heading into the rematch – scored 20 points and made 7-of-13 field goal attempts. 11 points, eight rebounds, and four steals off the bench from Corey Hadnot II; 11 points off the bench by Cuthrell; 10 points, eight rebounds, and three steals for Mulder; and seven points off the bench from Trey Lewis.
Jon Coffman’s Purdue-Fort Wayne squad made 48.3 percent of their shots (28-of-58) and 80.6 percent of their free throws (20-of-25), but they were held to only 26.1 percent on threes (6-of-23) Also, they only committed eight turnovers as opposed to WSU with 16.
Meanwhile in Dayton, Kari Hoffman’s Wright State women (6-18, 4-10 Horizon) got scratched and clawed up at the hands of IU Indy (6-17, 5-9 Horizon) in an 80-68 loss at the Nutter Center.
The Jaguars, who snapped a four-game losing streak, had their last win come against Wright State at home on January 15. Three weeks later, history repeated itself.
Before a media timeout in the opening quarter, the Jaguars were up 17-7 before a layup from Shania Nichols-Vannett grew the lead to 12 at 19-7 with four minutes left. The game stayed scoreless for two minutes and one second before WSU finished the period with seven unanswered points starting with both a layup and a three-pointer by Claire Henson, followed by a mid-range shot in the paint from Amaya Staton. Just like that, the Raider women only trailed 19-14 after one.
The Jaguars opened the second quarter with a bucket by Alexa Hocevar to go up 21-14, but WSU cut the deficit down to just one point by scoring six unanswered points with back-to-back layups by Makiya Miller and another bucket from Henson to trail 21-20. But before another media timeout, the Jags grew the lead back up to five at 32-27 with Lauren Scott and Azyah Newson-Cole trading shots.
When play resumed, Miller drove to the cup and scored to make it a 32-29 deficit before Katie Davidson answered right back with a midrange shot of her own to make it 34-29. Ellie Magestro-Kennedy then made it a one-possession game with a three to make it 34-32, but the Jags ended the first half with six straight points courtesy of back-to-back layups from Hocevar and free throws by Davidson. As a result, IUI was up 40-32 at halftime.
In the middle of the third quarter, IU Indy went on another 6-0 run with a made three-pointer from Logan Lewis and a three-point play from Hocevar to go up 50-38 with 6:49 left in the period. Following a bucket from WSU’s Chloe Chard Peloquin to make it 50-40, the Jags went on another 9-0 run with layups from Newson-Cole and Davidson, a three from the wing by Faith Stinson, and another Davidson layup. Just like that, the Jags had their biggest lead of the night at 19 at 59-40. For the rest of the night, it was IU Indy’s game to win as WSU got no closer than to within 12.
The Wright State women had a bad shooting night overall as they made just 46.2 percent of their overall shots (30-of-65), 25 percent of their three-pointers (3-of-12), and 55.6 percent of their free throws (5-of-9). Staton finished with her eighth double-double of the season and 15th of her NCAA career with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and a pair of blocks. Henson scored 13 points (6-of-17 FG), pulled down six rebounds, and had a pair of steals. Miller also scored 13 points (6-of-11 FG) to go along with four assists and a trio of steals, while Magestro-Kennedy scored eight points off the bench and hit a pair of treys.
Kate Bruce’s IU Indy crew shot 54.2 percent from the field (32-of-59), 46.7 percent from beyond the arc (7-of-15), and 69.2 percent on foul shots (9-of-13). Davidson led all scorers with 28 points (11-of-17 FG) and was a perfect 3-for-3 from downtown. 17 points and three steals from Nevaeh Foster; and 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists from Hocevar.
Each team pulled down 32 rebounds, but IU Indy had 15 turnovers, which is one less miscue than Wright State who had 16.
Up next for Wright State:
– Both squads will be in action on Saturday, February 8, with each game being streamed seen on ESPN Plus.
– The women’s team will hit the road and go up to the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum to face first-place Purdue-Fort Wayne for 4ET/3CT tip-off for the Mastodons’ Free Mini Foam Finger Giveaway game.
– The men’s team will come back home to the Nutter Center and host IU Indy at 7ET/6CT on Homecoming Night.
