SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg women's basketball team were simply outlasted by the Baldwin-Wallace Yellow Jackets in the championship game of the Charles B. Zimmerman Classic by a deceiving score of 69-53.
The Yellowjackets' fast-paced, up-tempo game plan proved problematic for the Tigers. Baldwin-Wallace scored 14 fast break points, one of the biggest deciding factors of the game, compared Wittenberg's zero.
BW got out of the gates early and showed why they are the No. 3 ranked team in the country. At the midway point of the first half, the Tigers had trouble finding the basket, as BW built on an early lead and went up 15-3 with a little more than 10 minutes left in the first half.
However, the Tigers fought back and tied the score with three minutes left in the first half. The Tigers took their first lead of the game with less than two minutes left in the first half, although the lead was short-lived as BW came out of the locker room after halftime with three quick buckets and set the tempo for the rest of the game and break a 24-24 intermission deadlock.
The Yellow Jackets put it away with a big burst over the final nine minutes of the game. After Wittenberg's Gina Carney (Lexington, Ky./Catholic) scored on a lay-up to cut the lead to 46-43, Baldwin-Wallace went on an 11-2 run over the next five minutes and held on from there.
For the Yellow Jackets, Selena Eskinazi-Budge was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after dropping a game-high 17 points. She was joined on the all-tournament team by teammate Amanda Mondrach, who notched 10 points, three assists and three steals in the win.
Senior wing Rachel Clark-Haggy (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) was also named to the all-tournament team for her 14-point, five-rebound effort in the loss. She was joined on the all-tournament team by teammate Kathy Hittle (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville), who pulled down a game high 10 rebounds to go with her nine points. Ali Rolfs was the only other scorer to reach double digits for the Tigers for her 10 point efforts.
Other all-tournament nominees included Edison Community College guard Whitney Warvel, who notched 29 points in their win over Centre (Ky.) in which she hit a tournament record seven three point field goals. Teammate Jodi Zimmerman rounded out the all-tournament team for her remarkable over the course of twp games. In the win over Centre, Zimmerman scored 18 points, pulled down seven rebounds, dished out six assists, blocked five shots, and nabbed five steals in the process. Her five blocks tied an already existing Holiday Classic record.
The loss drops Wittenberg to 6-5 on the season, while improving Baldwin-Wallace's to 10-1.
The Tigers will get right back at it when they will travel to Denison University in Granville, Ohio Jan. 2. The tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.