Strong Second Half Leads Wright State Past Women's Basketball, 93-81

by YSU

Thursday, Feb 6, 2014 10:59 am

Dayton, Ohio – Wright State shot 51.4 percent in the second half and made 14 3-pointers to defeat the Youngstown State women's basketball team 93-81 on Wednesday afternoon at the Nutter Center.

The Penguins (10-11, 6-2 Horizon League) are now in a three-way tie for first place midway through Horizon League play with Green Bay and Wright State.

Junior Heidi Schlegel posted a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Latisha Walker scored 16 points with nine rebounds. Kelsea Newman scored 15 points off the bench on 5-of-8 from beyond the 3-point line.

Wright State's Kim Demmings scored a game-high 28 points while Ivory James posted 21 points for the Raiders, who improve to 17-6 overall and 6-2 in the Horizon League.

Although Youngstown State outrebounded Wright State, 44-30, the Raiders capitalized on 18 Penguins turnovers, including 10 in the second half, which turned into 26 points.

Demmings scored 12 points in the first six minutes of the second half that turned a one-point halftime deficit into an eight-point lead, 64-56, with 13:56 remaining.

The Raiders outscored the Penguins, 22-12, through the first 10 minutes of the second half, but the Penguins twice chipped the deficit down to four. A jumper by Liz Hornberger followed by two free throws by Schlegel cut the Raiders' lead to 69-65 with 8:53 to go.

After a jumper by WSU's Tay'ler Mingo, Schlegel added two more charity tosses to put the score at 71-67 at the 7:56 mark.

The Raiders went an 11-2 run over the next three minutes to take an insurmountable 13 point lead, 82-69, with just under five minutes to go. The Penguins never got closer than within 10 the rest of the way.

Both teams went on big runs and led by at least seven in the first half, and YSU held a 46-45 advantage at the break.

The Penguins scored the first five points of the game, Wright State scored the next seven, and YSU ran off five more to go up 10-7. Wright State went on a 15-4 run that was capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Demmings and took its largest lead of the half at 22-14 with 12:40 remaining.

YSU kept Demmings scoreless for the remainder of the half, and the Penguins scored 10 straight points to go up 29-26 when Newman hit two 3s. Youngstown State's largest lead of the half came when Karen Flagg's bucket at the 2:34 mark put it ahead 41-34.

Breanna Stucke caught fire and scored eight points during an 11-4 run that tied the game at 45 in the final 30 seconds, and Flagg added a free throw before halftime for YSU's lead.

There was a big sequence that started the 11-4 run. Hornberger was whistled late on a blocking foul after it appeared Demmings had turned the ball over, and the YSU bench thought Abby Jump traveled on a no-call. James then buried a 3-pointer in the corner to start the run.

Youngstown State will conclude its three-game road trip at Oakland on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on 570 WKBN and the Horizon League Network.

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