Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
By Tom Archdeacon
She hung up her Wright State uniform 10 months ago, graduated and now is playing professionally with the Toledo Threat, but Symone Simmons’ presence still is being felt in the Raiders women’s basketball program.
While she was at WSU, Simmons was an iron woman, the only player in program history to score over 1,000 points and pull down over 1,000 rebounds.
Saturday her contributions made an impact again, this time through the efforts of sophomore guard Anisja Harris, who made seven of 10 three-point attempts and finished with a game-high 21 points to lead the Raiders to a 91-41 victory over Youngstown State at the Nutter Center.
The long-range shooting display by Harris was reminiscent of another three-point extravaganza she had last season when she made eight of 11 treys in a 24-point effort against Kentucky State.
Wright State landed her out of Gahanna Lincoln — by way of three seasons at Westerville North — thanks to the efforts of Simmons. She had been teammates with the younger Harris at Westerville North and sold her on the Raiders’ program.
“She told me she loved it at Wright State, so that built my confidence in the school when I first came here to play in their elite camp,” Harris said. “When I got here, I instantly fell in love with the program too and after that I didn’t want to go anywhere else.”
She joined the Raiders last year, so she got another season with Simmons, who was part of a triumvirate of 1,000-point senior scorers along with Mackenzie Taylor and Emily Vogelpohl. Add in Arizona transfer Michal Miller and super freshman Angel Baker and there was a logjam at guard and Harris got limited minutes on the court.
Although she did have that one explosive game, Harris averaged just 8.5 minutes a 2.9 points a game last season.
