“It felt like they were squeezing us there and we were going to play scared,” the fourth-year coach said. “We told them in a timeout, ‘That’s not us. Continue to put your foot on the gas pedal and play in transition offensively.’
“It really boiled down to getting stops late, making sure we were keeping them to one (shot) and done. And we did a good job of that.”
The Raiders held off the Milwaukee surge for a 69-61 victory at the Nutter Center on Saturday, notching their third win in the last five games.
Amaya Staton had 13 points and 12 rebounds to lead the way, while Mikaya Miller had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Lauren Scott chipped in nine points to go with two steals.
“It feels like we have a rhythm. We have chemistry building. Our rotation is normal. We have players coming into their own. Having that combination is fun to see,” said Hoffman, whose team has been nicked up throughout the season.
“We’ve seen it all year long in practice. We just haven’t seen it in games up until these last couple weeks. Belief is a big thing. Confidence is a big thing. I think we have a lot of that.”
Milwaukee cut a 61-54 deficit to five on a Kacee Baumhower layup with 2:17 to go. But Staton drew fouls on a pair of possessions and made three of four free throws on the way to her sixth double-double this year.
Wright State is 5-16 overall and 3-8 in the Horizon League, while Milwaukee is 4-18, 1-10.
“Early on, we definitely blew a couple leads. Doing that, we didn’t want to go back there. We knew how to handle it this time,” Scott said.
“We have a lot of fresh starters, and they didn’t get a lot of minutes last year. But at this point of the season, we’ve matured and know what we’re doing.”
The Raiders went 18-15 last season and won a game in the conference tournament.
But for the fourth consecutive year, Hoffman had to do a total rebuild with a new set of transfers and recruits.
Instead of going after seasoned players in the transfer portal, though, she zeroed in on underclassmen.
“I think with this team and our youth, we’re going to continue to feel a roller-coaster,” she said. “I hope it’s more two steps forward and one step back.
“We felt two steps forward after the Youngstown State game,” she added, referring to a 77-62 victory Jan. 12 that gave the Raiders their first two-game winning streak of the season. “And then we went to IU Indy (a 75-63 loss three days later) and didn’t play at all like the previous two games.”
But she’s savoring the progress she’s seen of late, especially weathering the late push by Milwaukee.
“That’s absolute growth for our team. I’m really proud of them for that,” she said.
Baumhower was the Panthers’ leading scorer with 13 points, going 4 of 14 from the field and 4 of 4 from the foul line. She was a starting guard for the Raiders last season before transferring.
“No hard feelings there,” Scott said. “She’s a great player, and I was happy to see her out there playing healthy. But I’m glad we got the win and set the tone going forward.”
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