Betsy Adams
(Monticello, Ind./Twin
Lakes H.S.) tied a career-high with six three-pointers on her way to 22 points
on Saturday afternoon, leading Valparaiso to a
59-52 victory over Wright State at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
Adams scored 14 of her points after the intermission as the
Crusaders snapped a two-game losing skid.
She made 6-of-9 from downtown on the afternoon on her way to an 8-of-12
shooting day from the floor overall while also grabbing four rebounds and three
assists.
“They were keying on Betsy,”
Valpo head coach Keith Freeman
said. “When we got the ball reversed she
got some open shots.”
Valpo never trailed in the
game, but had to hold off a late Raider run which saw Wright State
cut a 13-point lead down to one before Valpo responded.
“I was proud of our kids,”
Freeman said of withstanding the rally.
“We got that monkey off of their back.
We did a good job of playing with poise down the stretch.”
The Crusaders led 27-20 at
intermission and saw the lead gradually grow to 45-32 with 10:56 to play before
the Raiders made their spurt. An 11-0
run over four minutes saw the lead shrink to 47-46 before Adams
responded with a triple. Lauren Kenney (Mooresville, Ind./Mooresville
H.S.) followed with a lay-in and all of a sudden the advantage was back to six
with 3:45 to play.
Adams hit another triple and Laura Richards (Connersville, Ind./Connersville
H.S.) scored on a back-door layup to push the lead to 57-50 heading into the
final minute, giving Valpo its third Horizon League victory of the season.
Valpo jumped out to a
seven-point lead in the first half as well following an Ashley Varner (South Bend, Ind./Washington H.S.) triple at the
10:09 mark only to have the Raiders fight back and tie the score at 17 with 5:03 to play before halftime. The Crusaders closed the half with a 10-3 run
though to take the seven-point lead into the break.
Kenney just missed a
double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds while Kelly Watts (Gary, Ind./East Chicago Central H.S.)
also pulled down nine boards for the Crusaders.
“Watts
and Kenney have a nose for the ball,” Freeman added. “They were playing with a lot of passion
going after rebounds.”
Valpo shot nearly 58% from
the floor in the second half, including 5-of-6 from three-point range,
finishing the game shooting 46.7% from the floor for the night.
LaShawna Thomas led Wright State
(5-12, 1-6 Horizon) with 13 points while Ta-myra Davis added a double-double with 12 points
and 11 boards. Maria Bennett added 12
points for the Raiders, all on three-pointers.
Wright State managed to make just 3-of-9 from the free throw line.
Valparaiso (6-12, 3-4) heads to the road on Thursday evening as
the Crusaders travel to Milwaukee,
Wis. to battle the Panthers of
the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
Game Notes: Valpo
leads the all-time series with Wright State 10-5, including a 7-2 advantage at
the ARC … the Raiders had won four of the last five meetings prior to Saturday
… Valpo, which was +7.2 in rebounding margin in Horizon League play entering
the game, outrebounded Wright State 35-28 … Valpo shot 53% from three-point
range in the game.