The Wright State women’s basketball team will return home for a midweek rematch with the Oakland Golden Grizzlies at the Nutter Center on Wednesday, February 18 at 7ET, which can also be seen on ESPN Plus. It’s also WSU’s annual Pink Game.
Standings and series history: Wright State (7-19, 5-11 Horizon) is currently in ninth place in the Horizon League standings, while Oakland (8-17, 6-10 Horizon) is in seventh. WSU leads the all-time series 21-8.
Last time out: This past Thursday night before Valentine’s Day, Kari Hoffman’s squad earned their first road win in almost a year with a 78-76 thrilling overtime win over the Youngstown State Penguins at the Beeghly Center. WSU had an 11-point lead in the first half and nearly blew it, but they still managed to pull off the much-needed win despite playing having to plan an extra session.
Wright State shot 37.9 percent from the field (25-of-66), an abysmal 24.7 percent from downtown (7-of-24), and a descent 70 percent from the foul line (21-of-30). Amaya Staton led everyone with 23 points and matched her career-high of 16 rebounds while going 9-of-10 from the foul. 13 points off the bench for Lauren Scott; 10 off the bench for Macie Taylor; and Claire Henson finished with a near triple-double of nine points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Youngstown State shot 47.6 percent overall (30-of-63), 33.3 percent from three-land (4-of-12), and 63.2 percent at the charity stripe (12-of-19). Jewel Watkins led Melissa Jackson’s Penguins with 22 points (8-of-21 FG), 17 points and eight rebounds for Faith Burch, 16 points for Malia Magestro, and eight points and 11 rebounds for Sophia Gregory.
Last matchup and change of scenery for Oakland: On December 6, Oakland defeated Wright State 84-70 at the O’rena, with both teams grabbing 32 rebounds.
The Raider bench scored 51 of the team’s 70 points, with Rylee Sagester leading the green and gold with 17 points while going 5-for-11 from beyond the arc. 13 points (6-of-10 FG), five rebounds, and two blocks for Chloe Chard Peloquin; nine points for Ellie Magestro-Kennedy, eight points for Abbie Riddle, and four points and 10 assists for Olivia Brown. Staton was the only Raider starter in double-figures that game with 11 points plus five rebounds, but she only played 12 minutes due to having four personal fouls.
Maddy Skorupski led the game 21 points and also finished with five rebounds and eight assists, but she shot a poor 7-of-20 from the field. 16 points for Macy Smith, 14 points off the bench for Lianna Baxter, and nine points and six rebounds for Sereniti Roberts-Adams.
On December 9, 2024, three days after the win, Golden Grizzlies head coach Jeff Tungate announced his retirement after 12 seasons leading the Oakland program due to health issues. He left the school with 145 wins, tying Bob Taylor for the most wins in school history.
New sheriff in town: Taking over now on an interim basis is Deanna Richard, a former player at Oakland in the 90s who started this season as their Associate Head Coach. She was inducted into the school’s Lepley Hall of Honor on April 21, 2007 and has spent the last two seasons with the program as a regular assistant under Tungate.
As a player for the Golden Grizzlies under Taylor, Richard led the program the three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including a spot in the 1995 Elite Eight. In her senior year, she was fourth in the country in made three-pointers on her way to becoming the 1996 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Richard finished her career with the seventh-most points in program history (1,333) and graduated in spring 1996 with a degree in Exercise Science. Richard also played one season overseas in Portuguese squad Clube Desportivo de Povoa, leading them to a 1997 conference championship and a trip to the Final Four. That same season, she averaged 27.4 points, 11.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, along with a field goal percentage of 58.2 percent.
Richard begun her coaching career in the NCAA Division II rankings as an assistant for the Ferris State Bulldogs only for the 1998-99 season. She went on to spend the next two seasons (1999-01) as an assistant for the Wayne State Warriors on her way to earning Master’s Degree in Business Administration.
Following her time at Wayne State, Richard’s first head coaching gig came with the Division III Olivet Comets in the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA). She was the woman in charge from 2001 through 2007 and left the school as the winningest coach in program history (61), but she has since been passed up on that list by Nicole Burford (77).
Richard then returned to Division II in 2007 and spent the next dozen seasons as the head coach for the Mercyhurst Lakers (2007-19) and is still the winningest head coach in school history (135). Their best year under Richard was in the 2016-17 campaign as the Lakers finished with an impressive 24-8 record and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995. That same season, Richard became the first head coach in program history with 100 wins at Mercyhurst and was also named the 2017 Erie Times News Sportswoman of the Year.
Defensive battle: On Wednesday, we are gonna see the two best defensive players go at it in Staton from WSU and Skorupski from Oakland.
Staton from WSU, who was recently named the Horizon League Player of the Week, is having the best season of her entire NCAA career. She is the conference’s leader in rebounding (8.3 rpg, 217 total rebounds, 20.7% total rebound percentage), blocked shots (6.8 block percentage), total offensive rebounds (95), and player efficiency rating (29.9). Staton also ranks tied 24th in the NCAA in offensive rebounds per game (3.7), tied for 36th in double-doubles (10), tied for 47th in total blocks (42), and 60th in blocks per game (1.62).
On the other side, Skorupski – who is also one of the best overall talents in the conference – ranks 11th in the country in total steals (76) and 12th in steals per game (3.04).
Wright State women’s starting lineup (from their last game)
• Amaya Staton, F (6-1, Gr., Merrimack transfer) – 11.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.62 bpg, 54.6% FG, 76.7% FT, 22.2 mpg
• Claire Henson, G (5-10, Jr.) – 10.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.2 spg, 36.4% 3-PT
• Abbie Riddle, G (5-10, R-Fr., Bowling Green transfer) – 3.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 18.2 mpg in 18 games (two starts)
• Makiya Miller, G (5-7, Jr.) – 8.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.3 spg, 30.1% 3-PT
• Olivia Brown, G (5-7, R-Soph. Akron transfer) – 3.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.2 spg; started 15 games, including the last nine
Wright State rotation players
• Macie Taylor, G (5-7, R-Soph.) – 7.9 ppg, spg, 80.8% FT; started the first 17 games
• Lauren Scott, G (5-7, Jr.) – 7.4 ppg, 25.5 mpg in 22 games (18 starts)
• Rylee Sagester, G (5-7, R-Fr.) – 5.2 ppg, 35.4% 3-PT, 90% FT (18-of-20), 15.2 mpg
• Chloe Chard Peloquin, C (6-3, Jr., Canisius transfer) – 4.7 ppg, 3 rpg, 0.5 spg, 0.5 bpg, 14.5 mpg in 23 games
• Ellie Magestro-Kennedy, G (5-7, R-Fr.) – 4.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 11.2 mpg in 24 games; did not play on Thursday (coach’s decision)
• Florrie Cotterill, F (6-2, Fr.) – 1.5 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 4.6 mpg in 17 games; did not play on Thursday (coach’s decision)
Rest of Wright State’s roster: https://wsuraiders.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster
Oakland starting lineup
• Lianna Baxter, F (6-2, Jr.) – 6.4 ppg, 4 rpg, spg, 42.4% 3-PT (14-of-33); sat out last season due to an injury
• Madison Royal-Davis, G (5-11, Sr.) – 4 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.1 spg, started 20 games; begun her NCAA career at Butler
• Macy Smith, G (5-10, Sr., Utah State transfer) – 12.1 ppg, 32.9% 3-PT; started her NCAA career at Cal State Northridge
• Maddy Skorupski, G (5-8, Jr.) – 16 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.1 apg, 3 spg, 78.3% FT; played her freshman season at Michigan State
• Dani Grim, G (5-7, Sr., Division II Mercyhurst University transfer) – 7 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.2 spg, 79.2% FT; started her NCAA career at Long Island University where she made the 2021-22 Northeast Conference All-Freshman Team
Oakland rotation players
• Kylie Buckley, F (6-1, Soph., Niagara transfer) – 4.6 ppg, 3 rpg, 0.7 spg, 15 mpg in 24 games (10 starts)
• Jasmine Dupree-Hebert, G (5-8, Soph.) – 2.8 ppg, 1.6 rpg, started one game
• Leah Bullard, F (6-1, Fr.) – 1.4 ppg, 0.6 rpg, 6.8 mpg in 16 games
Oakland injuries
• Naveyah Damon, G (6-0, Soph.) – 2.5 ppg in two games; has not seen action since November 8
• Sereniti Roberts-Adams, C (6-3, Fr.) – 3.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 12.6 mpg in 20 games (six starts); missed the last three games with an injury related to the upper body
Rest of Oakland’s roster: https://goldengrizzlies.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster
