“It’s huge,” third-year coach Kari Hoffman said. “This team has done everything we’ve asked of them, and we challenged them before the game to do one more thing: Get to Indy, and then we’ll make new goals.
“That was the goal for these guys this entire year, and they accomplished that. They should be so proud of themselves.”
The fourth-seeded Raiders knocked off fifth-seeded Milwaukee, 70-60, at the Nutter Center, turning a four-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter into a 10-point lead with a 14-0 surge.
First-team all-league guard Alex Hutchison had eight of her 23 points in that span, and Layne Ferrell, the somewhat reluctant shooter, had six of her 17.
Before that run, they never led by more than three, and they were down by eight in the second quarter.
“That’s what has to happen — championship plays. We talked about it all week, and we did that,” Hoffman said.
The Raiders — who are 18-14 for a 10-win improvement over last year — will be playing at Indiana Famers Coliseum in the league’s final four for the first time under Hoffman.
The top four seeds all advanced, and they’ll face No. 1 Cleveland State (28-4) at noon Monday, while second-seeded Green Bay (25-6) will play No. 3 Purdue Fort Wayne (21-11) at 2:30.
The final is noon Tuesday on ESPNU.
Both the Vikings and Phoenix are projected to make the NCAA tourney, at least according to ESPN bracketologist Charlie Crème.
“It’s been so fun to see the hard work pay off,” Hoffman said. “It’s been a long couple of years, but this team has revitalized the program. I’m just really proud of their bravery, their ability to work hard every day, to stick to the process and keep trusting each other.”
Not that they didn’t wobble at times against the Panthers (16-16).
They had been shooting 33.1% from 3 (fourth in the league) and were making 7.9 per game (second), but they started 1 for 20.
“We were shooting really, really bad. But I believe in these guys and their ability to shoot the ball. I said, ‘No one passes up an open 3,’” Hoffman said.
Cara VanKempen helped the Raiders get untracked, drilling three, and they finished 9 of 34.
After getting out-rebounded by 19 and 17 in the first two meetings with Milwaukee, Wright State had a 42-34 edge on the glass, including 14 on the offensive end. They also held the Panthers to 33.3% shooting.
And Ferrell, who transferred from Akron, finally asserted herself and gave Hutchison the help she needed.
The 6-foot-2 fifth-year player made three buckets in the paint in that late run when Wright State finally penetrated Milwaukee’s zone.
“I’ve been begging her to take shots, and she took the biggest ones and didn’t hesitate,” Hoffman sad. “She’s just a really good player and made it happen late.”
Ferrell figured she didn’t have much choice.
“I think it had a lot to do with knowing it’s do or die right now. You kind of realize that when there’s four minutes left, and we’re down two. It’s either do it now or don’t do it at all,” she said.
Ferrell and her teammates are giddy over the trip to the semis, knowing how implausible it seemed in November.
“It means a lot to me,” Ferrell said. “I came from a conference that only the top eight make (the league tourney), so to have everybody make it is a lot different. But also, it’s fun because there’s home games.
“In my old conference (the MAC), we didn’t have that. To have this crowd behind us — I hope everyone comes out to Indy, but knowing that’s not always the case, it means a lot. And it feels good do it for Coach.”
MONDAY’S GAME
Wright State vs. Cleveland State, Noon, ESPN+
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