FAIRBORN — The Wright State Raiders move to 12-4 overall 4-0 record in the Horizon League after a 61-57 win against the Milwaukee Panthers Jan. 5.
Mackenzie Taylor led all players with 14 points. Angel Baker added 13 and Michal Miller 10.
Neither team found the basket for the first two minutes but the Raiders struck first with a three-pointer from the corner by Taylor. One minute later Symone Simmons collected her own rebound and sank a put-back floater. Simmons scored on the next Raider possession to extend the lead to 7-2. The score would stand until the media timeout with 4:54 remaining in the first quarter. The next score would come off of a Baker steal in the lane and finish with a fast transition to the other end where Baker would finish the play. With 16 seconds left in the quarter, Imani Partlow collected the pass from Michal Miller and sink her floater while also drawing the foul. The Panthers made two free throws to tie it at 11-11 after the first quarter.
With the first Raider possession, Partlow hit a deep jumper and on the other end a Simmons steal led to a score when Mackenzie Taylor hit her second three of the afternoon. The Panthers cut it to one and then led 23-20 before a layup from Teneshia Dixon and a three from Baker gave WSU a 25-23 lead. WSU led 32-28 at halftime, began the third quarter on a quick run en route to a 45-38 lead after three.
The Panthers began to chip away at the Raiders’ lead and a string of scoring let them pull within three of the home team. An impressive passing performance led to the next Raider score as Miller hit a short jumper just outside the lane. At the 1:04 mark Milwaukee hit a layup to pull within one point. With 24 seconds on the clock the Panthers called a timeout and had a chance for the win.
The attempt at the shot fell short and Emily Vogelpohl hauled in the rebound. With 11.7 seconds remaining a Panther foul sent Taylor to the line and she sank both of her free throws to extend the Raider’s lead to three. With 6.2 seconds remaining the Panthers fouled under the basket and Tyler Frierson made two free throws for a 61-56 WSU lead.
The Raiders will begin their three game road trip when they travel to take on Northern Kentucky. The Norse stand at 3-11 and 2-2 in the conference with their most recent game against Green Bay, a 61-81 loss.
