HIRAM, Ohio – The Wittenberg women's basketball team dropped a 57-54 decision to Hiram on Friday, the first of two games on an annual road swing through Northeastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, where tomorrow the Tigers will play Allegheny College at 3 p.m.
The Tigers led by five points at 50-45 with just over six minutes remaining in the game, but found themselves tied with Hiram a minute later after the Terriers sank a three-pointer, forced a turnover and made a pair of free throws.
A tight race to the finish had the teams tied at 54-54 with 2:28 left following the first of two free throws for Hiram's Danielle Day. She made the second to put Hiram ahead, and over the final ticks of the game, Wittenberg had trouble getting a good look at the basket, a problem compounded by several turnovers.
Wittenberg was forced to foul in the last seconds, and Hiram made both free throw shots to establish the final margin.
As a team, Wittenberg outrebounded the Terriers 43-34, led by eight from sophomore Karen Daniel-Hamberg (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview) and seven from junior Amber Rice (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern). Senior Kim Replogle (Houston, Ohio/Houston), Sophomore Enri Small (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus School for Girls) and sophomore Amber Lara (Oak Park, Ill./River Forest) each contributed five boards.
Small appears to have made a full recovery from an injury that kept her sidelined through most of January, posting a team-best 12 points on 3-for-6 field goal shooting and a 6-of-9 performance at the line. Replogle was next on the scoring list with eight points.
The loss was the first for Wittenberg in the all-time series with Hiram after 31 consecutive wins stretching back to 1989, including a 66-61 win at Pam Evans Smith Arena earlier this season on Friday, Jan. 4th.