Megan Campbell Hits Five 3s and Paula Sevilla Grabs 18 Rebounds as Wright State Routs Ohio Christian 103-25

FAIRBORN, Ohio. Wright State needed a reset after a buzzer-beating loss at Loyola Chicago three nights earlier. It got one in the first five minutes of its home opener.

The Raiders scored the first six points, ripped off a 12-0 run soon after, and beat Ohio Christian 103-25 on Friday, Nov. 6, at the Nutter Center. Megan Campbell scored a game-high 17 points, making five 3s in the first quarter alone, and Paula Sevilla grabbed 18 rebounds in 22 minutes.

Here is the official box score (opens in a new tab) and Wright State's recap (opens in a new tab).

Campbell lights it up

There was no suspense. Wright State led 6-0 out of the gate, then used the 12-0 stretch to go up 21-3. The Raiders made eight 3s in the opening quarter, and Campbell had five of them. The sophomore scored 15 of her 17 points in the first half, finishing 6 of 11 from the field and 5 of 9 from deep in only 16 minutes.

Wright State led 32-7 after one quarter, 57-10 at halftime, and never let up. Grace Okih opened the third quarter with a basket and Rylee Sagester followed with a 3, and the Raiders outscored the Trailblazers 22-8 in the third and 24-7 in the fourth.

The final margin of 78 points speaks for itself, but the way Wright State got there is worth a closer look, because it said a lot about how this team wants to play.

Owning the glass

Sevilla's night was the most eye-catching in the box score. She grabbed 18 rebounds, 10 of them on the offensive end, and added nine points, two blocks and a steal. Ohio Christian grabbed 27 rebounds as a team. Sevilla came within nine of that by herself.

The Raiders won the rebounding battle 69-27 and turned their 23 offensive rebounds into 30 second-chance points. Olivia Brown and Okih each grabbed nine rebounds, and Campbell added seven. Brown also handed out nine assists, according to the official box score, and Maja Dilen added five.

That kind of rebounding margin happens against overmatched opponents, but the effort is a carryover worth noting. Three days earlier, Loyola Chicago outrebounded Wright State 37-28 and grabbed 12 offensive boards, and it cost the Raiders the game.

Defense sets the tone

Ohio Christian made 6 of 60 shots from the field, 10 percent, and 3 of 33 from 3. The Trailblazers scored only three points in the second quarter and finished with 10 at halftime.

Wright State forced 19 turnovers, recorded 13 steals and turned the mistakes into 25 points. Sagester had two steals and four assists. Every Raider who played had at least one steal.

Ohio Christian played only six players, and the minutes showed it. Jordyn Smoot played all 40 and Kiley Wray played 36. Wray had a strong individual game with eight points, 15 rebounds and three blocks. Peyton Jones led the Trailblazers with nine points. Jenna Tripp and Giselle Griego combined to go 0 of 22, including 0 of 17 from 3.

Balance and depth

The bigger takeaway for Wright State was balance. Six Raiders scored in double figures. Behind Campbell, Jayden Terry added 16 points on 7 of 11 shooting in 17 minutes. Okih had 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting to go with her nine rebounds. Allie Daniels scored 12, and Sagester and Dilen each added 11. Sydney Williams scored eight, and Brown had five.

The Raiders shot 51.3 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from 3, making 15 of 36. They scored 52 points in the paint and got 46 points from their bench, according to Wright State.

The one soft spot was the free throw line, where Wright State went 6 of 11. It hardly mattered on this night, but it is worth watching after the Raiders were outscored at the line by five in the loss at Loyola.

Context matters

Ohio Christian is a small-college program from Circleville, Ohio, and this was a game Wright State was expected to win comfortably. The Trailblazers came to the Nutter Center with a short bench and left with a reminder of the gap between their level and Division I.

So how much can you take from a 78-point win? More than you might think. After a second quarter in Chicago in which Wright State went 1 for 13 and let a 17-point lead disappear, the Raiders needed to see shots go in and a game played on their terms. They got both. The ball moved, the bench was productive again, and the effort on the glass, where Loyola had beaten them by nine, was the strongest response to what went wrong at Loyola.

Terry keeps impressing

Terry continues to be a name to know. After seven steals in her Wright State debut, she was efficient in limited minutes in the home opener, going 2 of 4 from 3 and adding four rebounds. Her versatility at both ends could be a big factor once Horizon League play arrives.

Campbell's shooting is the other storyline. She was 1 of 6 from the field at Loyola, with a late game-tying 3 as her lone make, so a five 3 first quarter was a welcome sight for a shooter who looks like she can swing games when she gets hot.

The first quarter, by the numbers

It is worth pausing on just how lopsided the opening 10 minutes were, because that is where Wright State set the tone. The Raiders made eight 3s in the first quarter and scored 14 points off Ohio Christian turnovers. They also had six second-chance points in the period, a preview of how the night would go on the glass. Ohio Christian scored seven points in the quarter, shooting from the outside almost every trip and getting very little to fall.

Wright State's starters barely needed to play. Terry and Okih each logged 17 minutes, Sagester 23 and Brown 28. Dilen played the most, 31 minutes, and ran the offense efficiently with five assists and a perfect 2 of 2 from 3. That gave the coaching staff a long look at the reserves, and they delivered. Sevilla, Campbell, Daniels and Williams combined for 46 points and 31 rebounds.

Williams had the quietest line of the group, but she kept shooting with confidence, going 2 of 9 from 3 for eight points in 25 minutes. For a team that went 4 of 13 from 3 at Loyola, getting volume and confidence from deep in a low-pressure setting has real value, especially with Michigan, Indiana State and Marshall next on the schedule and Horizon League play not far behind.

Looking ahead

The schedule got much harder from here. Wright State headed to Ann Arbor two days later to face No. 5 Michigan, one of the best teams in the country. Read our recap of Michigan's win over Wright State, and our recap of the season-opening loss at Loyola Chicago.

Wright State improved to 1-1 in front of 1,039 fans in its first game of the season at home, and the crowd got plenty of 3s to cheer. The Raiders return to the Nutter Center on Wednesday, Nov. 18, against Marshall at 5 p.m.

On the men's side, the Nutter Center has been loud already this season. Read about how Dayton and Wright State drew nearly 24,000 fans on opening night and Kellen Pickett's double-double at Toledo. For more Raiders coverage, visit our Wright State team page.

Sources: official box score and Wright State Athletics.

Photo: Wright State Athletics