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Women Give Vanderbilt a Tough Fight, but Lose 63-46

By Kevin C. Smith
The Wright State Women hosted the #16 women's team in the country, Vanderbilt (7-0), Wednesday evening and gave them a tough fight before going down to defeat, 63-46. The Lady Raiders (3-2) will now visit #24 University of Dayton on Sunday at 2pm in the UD Arena.

December 3, 2009
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Photos � and Courtesy of
Tim G. Zechar

Wright State has only played Vanderbilt once before, in Dec 1989. They lost that game 88-49. This was to be Vandy's first visit to Wright State and the Lady Raiders wanted to upset the nationally ranked Commodores. Vanderbilt was averaging 81 points coming into the Nutter Center, and WSU was getting 63.2ppg. A repeat defeat appeared certain.

The first half however, saw a tough Wright State Defense mixed with a variety of inside and outside shots, battle Vandy for a lead. In the opening half, the score was tied five times and the lead change hands five times as well. The Lady Raiders had a four point lead with about 11 minutes left in the half, but couldn't hold on. At the buzzer, Vanderbilt was holding a seven point lead, 30-23.

The first half stats showed how close this game was. Vanderbilt had a one rebound lead (21-20); They shot 32.1% (9-28) while the Raiders sank 30.8% (8-26); neither team had any points off of turnovers, even with WSU turning it over 15 times in the half, while VU gave the ball up eight times. A 12-5 lead in personal fouls was what hurt the Raiders game, accounting for 12 points for Vanderbilt.

Sophomore Maria Bennett, who scored the first two points of the game from the line, scored ten points in the half. That was all the points she would sink in the game. Bennett also lead the team with five rebounds in the half.

The second half belonged to Vanderbilt. They started the half with a 16-6 run which gave them a twenty point lead, 49-29 with 11:17 left in the game. The Raiders would only be able to cut that lead to eleven, 57-46, with 2:15 left The Commodores finished strong and got the win 63-46. Both teams were held below their average in this game. Vanderbilt was held 18 points below their average by Wright State's strong defensive play.

The Lady Raiders played a tough game against a ranked team. Consider also that Senior Erica Richardson got a knee in the leg and played the second half in severe pain. When she came off the court she was immediately attended to by the trainer and rode a stationary bike to stay lose. Fighting through that pain she sank nine points and grabbed a team leading seven rebounds. She also had one steal. That was an example of the effort all the Lady Raiders were providing trying to get the win.

Wright State played a good defense but were cold shooting in the second half. They finished the game shooting 29.4 %(15-51) while Vandy sank 41.2% (21-51). The Lady Raiders also gave up five additional turnovers for six points and had 18 fouls giving Vanderbilt 16 points. The Lady Raiders did shoot 71.4% (10-14) from the charity line and had a respectable 32 rebounds to Vanderbilt's 39. The 1033 fans in attendance saw a good game played in the Nutter Center.

In post game interviews, Vanderbilt's eighth year coach Melanie Balcomb pointed out that we are seeing much more parity in the women's game. In the men's game a lot is affected by the environment. "On the road, you have to come ready to play. I think that, in the men's game, the fans, it's a tough environment. In the women's game, you go on the road and you're playing a mid-level team and there's no environment� so for us we've always been better on the road because we don't have to go against what the guys have to go against on the road."

She related they lost in the past at Indiana State because they got like 9,000 fans and she realized that environment is why it's so tough for some to win on the road. She understood why men talk about being able to win at home, but can't win on the road. It's the environment and fans. Vandy plays at Tennessee with 21,000 fans present and "we've not won at Tennessee".

"I think the environment has a lot to do with it (loses)." At the mid-level we don't face that environment with attendance." At the NCAA level you're starting to see that now, with teams being upset. Vanderbilt averages 3704 fans at their home games, Wright State averages 368, second lowest in the Horizon League.

They also travel to the places where their players are from. They currently have a senior and freshman from the Cincinnati area. Our date fit their schedule. She pointed out that if this had been a weekend game, where we might have had a large attendance, she might have re-considered playing us. "It would have been tougher if they (WSU) had a big crowd, there's no doubt."

She points out their home record is much better because people come in to play them and there's a bigger crowd than they are used to playing in front of. Later Coach Bridgett Williams echoed these thoughts. She pointed out this is absolutely valid. "We go to Green Bay� are you kidding? It's (environment/fans) very valid in the women's game. I think it's one of the key things. Fans have been the sixth man for a lot of these teams."

"I actually think, not that I want to play in the McLin, but I think it helped us beat Robert Morris, because when it got down to it, our fans were loud in that little box and I thought that brought an atmosphere very similar to what you're talking about."

Regarding the Lady Raiders performance in this game, Coach Williams said "the experience we had tonight is the experience we need to do well in our season. I told my players, don't look at the score, look at how we are executing and what we are doing. Work on what we're doing and then the rest will come."

Tonight's game was one of those "moral victories" for a team. We faced a nationally ranked team, stayed with them in the first half, held them below their average in scoring; FG percentage; Assists per game; steals and blocked shots. That was a good show for our women.

Now the Lady Raiders travel to the UD Arena on Sunday to play the currently ranked #24 team - University of Dayton. The game will start at 2:00 and the Flayers will have a good number of fans present. Come out and cheer our team!

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