The Wright State basketball teams will both be on the road trying to break the hearts of their opposition. On Thursday, February 13, the women’s team – who are 0-11 on the road this season – will look for a series sweep of the Youngstown State Penguins at the Beeghly Center at 6:30ET. The very next night on February 14, which is Valentine’s Day, the men’s team will try to break the hearts of the Milwaukee Panthers on their Homecoming Night at 8ET/7CT at UWM Panther Arena. Both games will be shown on ESPN Plus.
Women’s last time out: Last Saturday afternoon, Kari Hoffman’s ladies got blown out at the Memorial Coliseum 74-52 by first-place Purdue-Fort Wayne, who are the only undefeated team in Horizon League play at 15-0 (women and men).
The game opened up being scoreless for the first two minutes until PFW’s Audra Emmenson drove to the bucket and scored to get the first points of the day, but Makiya Miller then scored the next five points for WSU courtesy of free throws and a three-pointer as the Raiders took a 5-2 lead.
However, the Lady ‘Dons countered with 14 unanswered points to go up 16-5 and never trailed in the game again. The 14-0 run started with a three-point play from Lauren Ross, followed by a three-pointer from Taeya Steinauer, a layup from Sydney Graber, free throws and a layup from Jordan Reid, and another drive to the cup from Emmenson. Then, Amaya Staton scored four of the next six points on layups as the Mastodons led 18-9 after one.
Late in the second quarter, a free throw from Miller cut PFW’s lead down to nine at 26-17. But the Mastodons scored the next seven unanswered points with a three from Ross, a jumper from Reid, and a stepback shot from Ross to go up 33-17. However, Miller did score the last bucket of the quarter as the Raiders trailed 33-19 at recess.
That started a 7-0 run for the Lady Raiders with Henson kicking off the third stanza with a layup and a three to cut the lead back down to single digits at 33-24, but Ross hit another triple to make it 36-24 as PFW had the double-digit margin for the remainder of the afternoon.
Olivia Brown made a layup to make it a 10-point deficit at 36-26, but Purdue Fort Wayne put the cream cheese on the bagel with 15 unanswered points starting with free throws and another three from Ross, back-to-back buckets from Graber, another shot from Ross, a layup from Reid, and an offensive rebound putback from Amellia Bromenschenkel to make it their biggest lead of the day at 51-26. As a result, the Lady ‘Dons pretty much had this one in the bag.
Both teams shot poorly overall from the field, with Wright State making only 32.8 of their shots (22-of-67) and an abysmal 17.6 percent of their three-pointers (3-of-17), while Purdue-Fort Wayne did a little better as they made 47.6 percent of their buckets (30-of-63) and a poor 23.6 percent of their treys (5-of-21).
However, both squads were good at the charity stripe, with WSU at 83.3 percent (5-of-6) and PFW at 75 percent (9-of-12). Each team also grabbed 40 rebounds.
Staton led the Wright State women with 13 points, 11 rebounds, a block and a steal as she recorded her third straight double-double, her ninth of this season, and 16th of her NCAA career. 11 points and nine rebounds for Henson, eight points and three rebounds for Miller, and six points off the bench from Florrie Cotterill.
Purdue Fort Wayne was led by Ross, who ended up leading all scorers with 20 points, shot 3-of-7 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 5-for-5 from the foul line. Reid scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench, while Emmerson and Bromenschenkel had eight points each. Bromenschenkel also had five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
But it was Graber who stole the show by coming off the bench to record her first-career double-double with career-highs of 15 points and 12 rebounds, plus a trio of blocks and a pair of steals.
The Mastodons now have the third-longest active winning streak in the country by themselves after South Carolina had their 17-game winning streak snapped in last Sunday’s 66-62 loss at Texas.
Men’s last time out: Last Saturday night, Clint Sargent’s men’s team picked up a big-time 91-73 win on Homecoming Night at the Nutter Center.
IU Indy drew first blood with made free throws from Jarvis Walker, but Wright State scored the next nine points and never trailed in the game again from that point forward. It begun with a three-point shot from Solomon Callaghan, a free throw from Brandon Noel, a layup from Jack Doumbia, and another made triple from Callaghan. Later on in the game, the Raiders’ lead grew to 25 with 11 unanswered points from the end of the first half to the start of the second half courtesy of a three-ball from Logan Woods, a layup by Noel, a midrange shot from Keaton Norris, and another made free throw from Noel as WSU went 51-30 at halftime. That was followed up in the second half by back-to-back layups from Callaghan and Noel to go up 55-30 as the green and gold never backtracked for the rest of the night.
Noel recorded his eighth double-double of the season and his fourth one in WSU’s last five games as he led everyone with 26 points, 16 rebounds, a block, and a pair of steals (nine points and 10 rebounds in the first half). Norris’ hot shooting continued as he finished with a near triple-double courtesy of 17 points (6-of-7 FG), six rebounds and seven assists. 12 points each for Callaghan and Doumbia, nine points each for Woods and Alex Huibregtse, and six points and seven rebounds off the bench from Michael Imariagbe.
The Wright State men were outstanding shooting the ball on the evening as they connected on 63 percent on their shots (34-of-54), 60 percent of their three-pointers (9-of-15), and 77.8 percent of their free throws (14-of-18).
Paul Corsaro’s IU Indy team shot only 39.7 percent shooting from the field (23-of-58), 36.7 percent from beyond the arc (11-of-30), and 61.5 percent on free throws (16-of-26). The Jaguars were led by Sean Craig who had 26 points and hit 5-of-8 shots from beyond the arc. 22 points for Paul Zilinskas, five points and 12 rebounds for DeSean Goode, and six points and six assists for Alec Millender. As a team, IUI only committed turnovers as opposed to WSU with 10.
Wright State outrebounded IU Indy 36-27. Out of the Jaguars’ 27 boards, 12 of them came on the offensive glass.
WSU-YSU women’s last matchup: On January 12, Wright State earned a much-needed 77-62 victory over first-year head coach Melissa Jackson’s Youngstown State squad. The Raider women trailed 20-12 at the end of the first period, but they outscored YSU 65-42 over the last three quarters and even went on an 11-0 run near the end of the third period.
Staton stole the show at the Nutter Center that afternoon with a near triple-double courtesy of 14 points (8-of-11 FG), 16 rebounds, and seven blocks. Those seven rejections from Staton ties a program record that was set by Christi Hill in 1982.
The WSU women also had 10 points each from Miller and Henson, a career-high of 11 points off the bench from Abbie Riddle, nine points from Lauren Scott, and seven points off the bench from Macie Taylor. Olivia Brown filled up the statsheet with eight points, three rebounds, five assists and four steals.
The Wright State women connected on 44.4 percent on their shots (24-of-54), 50 percent of their three-pointers (7-of-14), and 81.5 percent of their free throws (22-of-27).
The Penguins, who had their fourth straight defeat, were led by Malia Magestro’s 16 points, followed by 13 points from Jewel Watkins and 12 points off the bench from Haley Thierry.
Youngstown State shot an abysmal 32.8 percent from the field (25-of-55) and 26.1 percent from beyond the arc (6-of-23), but they did make an outstanding 93.3 percent of their foul shots (14-of-15).
Wright State also outrebounded YSU 41-33, while both squads had 12 turnovers each.
Women’s rematch notes: Wright State (6-19, 4-11 Horizon) is in 10th place behind Youngstown State (9-15, 4-10 Horizon), who is coming off back-to-back road losses against Green Bay and Milwaukee. WSU leads the all-time series 40-31.
Wright State women’s starting lineup (from their last five games)
• Amaya Staton, F (6-1, Gr., Merrimack transfer) – 10.8 ppg, 8 rpg (leads Horizon), 1.7 bpg (leads Horizon) 54.4% FG, 75% FT, 21.6 mpg; leads the Horizon League in total rebounds (201), offensive rebounds (86), and personal fouls (80)
• Claire Henson, G (5-10, Jr.) – 10.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.3 spg, 37.7% 3-PT
• Makiya Miller, G (5-7, Jr.) – 8.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.4 spg, 30.3% 3-PT
• Lauren Scott, G (5-7, Jr.) – 7.4 ppg, 31.2% 3-PT, 71.4% FT in 21 games (18 starts)
• Olivia Brown, G (5-7, R-Soph. Akron transfer) – 3.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.2 spg; started 14 games, including the last eight
Wright State women’s rotation players
• Macie Taylor, G (5-7, R-Soph.) – 7.8 ppg, spg, 82% FT; started the first 17 games
• Abbie Riddle, G (5-10, R-Fr., Bowling Green transfer) – 3.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 17.9 mpg in 17 games (one start)
• Rylee Sagester, G (5-7, R-Fr.) – 5.3 ppg, 36.3% 3-PT, 90% FT (18-of-20), 15.4 mpg
• Chloe Chard Peloquin, C (6-3, Jr., Canisius transfer) – 4.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.5 spg, 0.5 bpg, 14.7 mpg in 22 games
• Ellie Magestro-Kennedy, G (5-7, R-Fr.) – 4.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 11.2 mpg in 24 games
• Florrie Cotterill, F (6-2, Fr.) – 1.5 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 4.6 mpg in 17 games
Rest of the Wright State women’s roster: https://wsuraiders.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster
Youngstown State starting lineup
• Sophia Gregory, F (6-2, Fr.) – 8.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.2 spg, 1.2 bpg in 21 games (14 starts)
• Faith Burch, F (6-1, R-Jr., Cleveland State transfer) – 6.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg, started 20 games
• Jewel Watkins, G/F (5-11, Sr., Charlotte transfer) – 14.5 ppg, only Penguin to start every game this season; played her first two NCAA seasons at Coppin State
• Malia Magestro, G (5-9, Gr.) – 11.9 ppg, 87.8% FT in 20 games (19 starts), missed four games due to an injury
• Xoe Rosalez, G (5-6, Jr.) – 2.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 24.8 mpg started 22 games
Youngstown State rotation players
• Erica King, G (5-7, Fr.) – 6.3 ppg; started eight games
• Haley Thierry, G (5-8, Sr.) – 3.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.5 bpg; started one game
• Abby Liber, G/F (6-0, Jr.) – 2.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 0.9 spg in 20 games (started nine of the team’s first 10 games) played her freshman season at Saint Louis where they made the 2022-23 NCAA Tournament
• Bella Samz, G (5-8, Soph.) – 1.7 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 20.8 mpg in 20 games (two starts)
• Dacia Lewandowski, G (5-11, R-Fr., Akron transfer) – 0.8 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 0.4 stl, 9m6 mpg in 15 games
Youngstown State injuries (all freshmen who were hurt in the lower body area)
• Ashlynn Van Tassell, 6-3 F: injured in September
• Danielle Cameron, 5-9 G: 5 ppg in two games off the bench; scored 10 points in her debut in their 95-39 season-opening win over Lake Erie on November 8, but suffered a season-ending injury on November 12 in their 60-52 win over St. Bonaventure
• Sarah Baker, 6-2 F: 7.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg in nine games (one start); one-time Horizon League Freshman of the Week who got injured on December 4 in their 66-50 win at home over Milwaukee
Rest of Youngstown State’s roster: https://ysusports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster
WSU-Milwaukee men’s last matchup: On January 22, the Wright State men’s team were dominated in a 95-79 home loss in their first battle of the season with Milwaukee at the Nutter Center.
Both squads started the night trading back-to-back 5-0 runs before also trading baskets back and forth. After WSU went up 21-18 courtesy of back-to-back free throws from Woods, Kentrell Pullian tied it up at 21 with a three-ball before the green and gold went on a 7-0 run to make it 28-21 with 5:58 remaining in the first half. The Panthers pounced with six unanswered points to make it a one-point deficit at 28-27 and eventually went up 40-32 after an 11-0 run that went a minute and 44 seconds. The Raiders scored four of the last six points of the half thanks to a pair of made foul shots each from Callaghan and Noel as the home team was down 42-36 at halftime.
Milwaukee begun the second half with another 6-0 run and went up by double-digits at 48-36. Later, it was 51-41 before Doumbia scored five of the game’s next seven points to cut the road team’s lead down to 52-46 with 14:36 left to go. The Panthers went on to score the next five points with free throws from AJ McKee and a three-point play from Danilo Jovanovich to make it 57-46. Wright State cut the deficit to nine on three different occasions down the stretch and eventually made it 62-53, but Jovanovich hit a pair of shots at the charity stripe to make it 64-53 and the Panthers had a double-figure advantage for the final 11:08 of the contest.
Huibregtse led WSU with 21 points and was 4-of-6 from downtown. 17 points for Noel, 14 points off the bench for Doumbia, and 10 points for Norris.
Wright State made 50 percent of their shots from the field (28-of-56) and 42.9 percent of their three-pointers (9-of-21), but they only made 63.6 percent of their attempts at the charity stripe (14-of-22). However, they won the battle of on-court points by an absurd margin of 53-4.
Head coach Bart Lundy and his Panthers (14-7, 7-3 Horizon), who are now tied for second place in the standings with Purdue Fort Wayne, had six players score in double-figures: 18 points each from Pullian and Themus Fulks, 15 points off the bench from Erik Pratt, 11 points and four steals from McKee, and 10 points each from Faizon Fields and Jamichael Stillwell. Jovanovich recorded nine points and seven rebounds off the bench, Fulks was one assist shy of a double-double and had three steals, and Pratt was 4-of-6 from the beyond the arc.
Milwaukee shot 49.2 percent from the field (31-of-63), 45.8 percent on three-pointers (11-of-24) and 81.5 percent on foul shots (12-of-15). They also turned the ball over only nine times, had their bench outscore the WSU bench 28-25, won the rebound margin 36-30, and had 21 points off 13 Raider turnovers.
Men’s rematch notes: Wright State (13-13, 7-8 Horizon) is currently in seventh place in the standings, while Milwaukee (16-9, 9-5 Horizon) stands in fifth. WSU leads the all-time 39-35.
Wright State men’s starting lineup
• Brandon Noel, F (6-8/240, 5th-year R-Jr.) – 18.9 ppg, 8.1 rpg, spg, 0.9 bpg, 33.3% 3-PT, 76.4% FT; leads the Horizon League in effective field goal percentages (58.2%) and made field goals (184)
• Jack Doumbia, F (6-6/195, R-Sr., Norfolk State transfer) – 12.3 ppg, 6 rpg, 1.1 spg, 0.8 bpg; started 11 games
• Alex Huibregtse, G (6-3/205, R-Sr.) – 13.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3 apg, 38.6% 3-PT, 77.5% FT, played and started 25 games
• Logan Woods (6-5/185, R-Soph.) – 7.4 ppg, 47.9% 3-PT; started the first 24 games before coming off the bench on Saturday
• Keaton Norris, G (6-0/175, R-Jr.) – 8.2 ppg, 3 rpg, 4.6 apg, 1.3 spg, 43.8% 3-PT, played and started 23 games
Wright State men’s rotation players
• Michael Imariagbe, F (6-7/220, Sr., Houston Christian transfer) – 5.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg in 25 games (11 starts)
• Solomon Callaghan, G (6-2/195, R-Fr.) – 5.4 ppg, 33.9% 3-PT in 25 games (four starts)
• Andrea Holden, W (6-6/215, Fr.) – 4.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, spg, 12.8 mpg in 11 games (five starts)
• Andrew Welage, G (6-6/205, Gr.) – 3.6 ppg, 34.8% 3-PT, 12.8 mpg in 25 games
• Drey Carter, F (6-8/210, R-Soph.) – 2.8 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 9.1 mpg in 21 games (one start)
Rest of the Wright State men’s roster: https://wsuraiders.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
Milwaukee starting lineup
• Faizon Fields, C (6-10/220, Sr.) – 8.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 0.8 bpg in 13 games (12 starts)
• Jamichael Stillwell, F (6-8/225, Jr.) – 13.4 ppg, 10.9 rpg, spg, 34.1% 3-PT in 23 games (22 starts); played his sophomore season at Old Dominion
• AJ McKee, G (6-2/205, R-Sr., Queens University transfer) – 11 ppg, 1.2 spg
• Themus Fulks, G (6-2/185, Sr., Louisiana-Lafayette transfer) – 14.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 5.5 apg, 1.5 spg, 76.4% FT
• Kentrell Pullian, G (6-0/182, Sr.) – 13 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.4 spg, 33.9% 3-PT, 80.2% FT; played his freshman season at Division II Eastern New Mexico
Milwaukee rotation players
• Erik Pratt, G (6-5/185, R-Sr.) – 11.8 ppg, 1.2 spg, 72.2% FT (26-of-36) in 16 games (one start); played nine games for Texas A&M as a junior in 2022-23
• Danilo Jovanovich, F (6-8/216, Jr., Louisville transfer) – 5.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 56.1% FG, 15.4 mpg in 14 games
• John Lovelace Jr., G/F (6-8, 210, Jr., Youngstown State transfer) – 4.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 14.5 mpg; started one game
• Darius Duffy, F (6-8/225, Sr.) – 3.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, bpg, 17.6 mpg; started 12 games when Fields was out with an injury
• Aaron Franklin, G (6-5/210, R-Jr.) – 3.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 11.9 mpg in 15 games
• Learic Davis, G (6-7/190, R-Soph.) – 2.4 ppg, 5.3 mpg in 15 games; redshirted his freshman year at Tennessee State
• Esyah Pippa-White, G (6-2/180, Soph.) – 1.4 ppg, 4.7 mpg in 22 games
Rest of Milwaukee’s roster: https://mkepanthers.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
