Wright State Advances in the WBI

The Wright State Raiders (21-12) answered every run SIU Edwardsville (18-12) made Thursday night eventually dispatching the Cougars 73-64 to advance to the semifinals of the West Region in the Women’s Basketball Invitational.

The two teams were tied at 54 with a little more than five minutes remaining in the game when the Raiders scored six consecutive points to take a lead they would never relinquish. Horizon League Co-Newcomer of the Year Kim Demmings scored five of those six Raider points as she finished with a team-high 20 points, 16 coming in the second half.

The Raiders opened up a 9-2 lead just 2:15 into the game, only to see SIUE take the lead for the first time at 12-11 on a Katie Hempen three at the 13:34 mark.  The Cougars later went up 22-17 following a Kiara Conner three-point play before WSU tallied nine straight points, the final seven from Shaunda Sandifer, and held a 29-28 edge at the half.

A Courtney Boyd three put the Raiders up 48-40 with 11:44 to play and the margin was six after a Demmings triple at the 6:06 mark, but the Cougars hit back-to-back threes to tie the game at 54 with 5:33 left.

Six straight points  put WSU up for good and SIUE would get no closer than four the rest of the way as the Raiders hit 11 of 12 foul shots over the final 1:04 to seal the victory.

It was the second postseason win in as many seasons for the Raiders as WSU defeated Buffalo in the first round of the WBI and was the first to come on the road.  Wright State also now has 21 wins on the year, the second-most in school history behind a 24-6 mark in its final season in Division I in 1986-87.

For the game, the Raiders shot 38 percent and were 20 of 28 at the foul line, including 18 of 21 in the second half, while SIUE shot 30 percent and was 10 of 12 at the stripe.  Wright State also finished with a 51-46 rebounding edge.

Sandifer posted a double-double of 18 points and 16 rebounds.  Boyd also added 18 points while Molly Fox also recorded a double-double of 15 points and 12 boards,

Raven Berry paced SIU Edwardsville (18-12) with 17 points.

Wright State (21-12) remains on the road for its West Region semifinal game at No. 1 seed Seattle. The game will be played Sunday, March 18 and will tipoff at 5 p.m. ET.